Conventional long name	United Kingdom of Great Britainand Northern Ireland
Common name	the United Kingdom
Alt flag	A flag featuring both cross and saltire in red, white and blue.
Image coat	Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom.svg
Alt coat	Coat of arms containing shield and crown in centre, flanked by lion and unicorn.
Symbol type	Royal coat of arms
Alt map	Two islands to the north-west of continental Europe. Highlighted are the larger island and the north-eastern fifth of the smaller island to the west.
Map caption
National anthem	"God Save the Queen"
Official languages	English (de facto)
Regional languages	Irish, Ulster Scots, Scottish Gaelic , Scots, Welsh, Cornish
Ethnic groups	92.1% White 4.0% South Asian 2.0% Black 1.2% Mixed 0.4% Chinese 0.4% Other
Ethnic groups year	2001 See: UK ethnic groups list
Demonym	British or Briton
Capital	London
Latns	N
Longew	W
Largest city	London
Government type	Unitary parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy
Leader title1	Monarch
Leader name1	Queen Elizabeth II
Leader title2	Prime Minister
Leader name2	David Cameron MP
Sovereignty type	Formation
Legislature	Parliament
Upper house	House of Lords
Lower house	House of Commons
State religion	Anglicanism
Established event1	Acts of Union 1707
Established date1	1 May 1707
Established event2	Acts of Union 1800
Established date2	1 January 1801
Established event3	Anglo-Irish Treaty
Established date3	12 April 1922
Accessioneudate	1 January 1973
Religion	Anglican
Euseats	78
Area rank	79th
Area magnitude	1 E11
Area km2	243610
Area sq mi
Percent water	1.34
Population estimate	62,041,708
Population estimate year	2010
Population estimate rank	22nd
Population census	58,789,194
Population census year	2001
Population density km2	254.7
Population density sq mi	659.6
Population density rank	51st
Gdp ppp year	2009
Gdp ppp	$2.139 trillion
Gdp ppp per capita	$35,082
Hdi rank	26th
Hdi category	very high
Gini	34
Currency code	GBP
Country code	GBR
Time zone	GMT
Utc offset	+0
Time zone dst	BST
Date format	dd/mm/yyyy (AD)
Utc offset dst	+1
Drives on	left
Cctld	.uk
Calling code	44

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK, or Britain) is a sovereign state located off the north-western coast of continental Europe. It is an island nation, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of the island of Ireland, and many smaller islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK with a land border with another sovereign state, sharing it with the Republic of Ireland. Apart from this land border, the UK is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel, and the Irish Sea.

The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy and unitary state. It is a country consisting of four countries: England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. It is governed by a parliamentary system with its seat of government in the capital city of London. There are three devolved national administrations, with varying powers in Belfast, Cardiff and Edinburgh, the capitals of Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland respectively. There are three Crown Dependencies and fourteen overseas territories that are not constitutionally part of the UK. These territories are remnants of the British Empire, which at its height in 1922 encompassed almost a quarter of the world's land surface, the largest empire in history. As a result, British influence can still be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former territories.

The UK is a developed country, with the world's sixth largest economy by both nominal GDP and by purchasing power parity. It was the world's first industrialised country and the world's foremost power during the 19th and early 20th centuries, but the economic and social cost of two world wars and the decline of its empire in the latter half of the 20th century diminished its leading role in global affairs. The UK nevertheless remains a great power with leading economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence. It is a recognised nuclear weapons state while its military expenditure ranks third or fourth in the world, depending on the method of calculation. It is a Member State of the European Union, a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, and a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, G8, G20, NATO, OECD, the Council of Europe and the World Trade Organization.

History

marked the end of the Napoleonic Wars and the start of Pax Britannica.]] On 1 May 1707, the United Kingdom of Great Britain was created by the political union of the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland. This event was the result of the Treaty of Union that was agreed on 22 July 1706, and then ratified by both the Parliament of England and Parliament of Scotland each passing an Act of Union in 1707. The kingdoms of England and Scotland, together with the kingdom of Ireland, had already been in a personal union as a result of the Union of the Crowns in 1603, when James VI, King of Scots inherited the Kingdoms of England and Ireland and moved his court from Edinburgh to London. However, until 1707, all three remained separate political entities and retained their separate political institutions. In this way, the United Kingdom became the union of the kingdoms of England, Ireland and Scotland. Disputes within Ireland over the terms of Irish Home Rule led eventually to the partition of the island in 1921, with Dominion status for the Irish Free State in 1922 while Northern Ireland remained part of the UK. As a result, in 1927, the formal title of the UK was changed to its current form, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

In the 18th century, the United Kingdom played an important role in developing Western ideas of the parliamentary system as well as making significant contributions to literature, the arts, and science. The UK-led Industrial Revolution transformed the country and fuelled the growing British Empire. During this time the UK, like other great powers, was involved in colonial exploitation, including the Atlantic slave trade, although with the passing of the Slave Trade Act in 1807 the UK took a leading role in combating the trade in slaves.

during the Battle of the Somme. More than 885,000 British soldiers lost their lives on the battlefields of World War I.]] After the defeat of France in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars (1792–1815), the UK emerged as the principal naval and economic power of the 19th century (with London the largest city in the world from about 1830 to 1930) and remained a foremost power into the mid 20th century. Beside Russia, France and (after 1917) the USA, the British were one of the major powers opposing Germany and its allies in World War I (1914–18). Engaged in much of its empire, several regions in Europe and increasingly taking a major role on the Western front, the armed forces grew to over five million people. After the war the United Kingdom received the League of Nations mandate over former German and Ottoman colonies and the British Empire had expanded to its greatest extent, covering a fifth of the world's land surface and a quarter of its population. The Great Depression (1929–32) occurred at a time when the UK was still far from having recovered from the effects of the war and led to hardship and political and social unrest.

The United Kingdom was one of the three main Allies of World War II. Following the defeat of its European allies in the first year of the war, the United Kingdom continued the fight against Germany, which took form in these years with the Battle of Britain. After the victory, the UK was one of the Big Three powers that met to plan the postwar world. The war left the United Kingdom financially damaged. However, Marshall Aid and loans taken from both the United States and Canada helped the UK on the road to recovery.

, countries in east Africa, India, most of Australasia, and some other countries are highlighted in pink.|Territories that were at one time part of the British Empire. Current British Overseas Territories are underlined in red.]] The immediate postwar years saw the establishment of the Welfare State, including comprehensive public health services. As a result of a shortage of workers, initial postwar policy was to bring in workers from Germany, Poland and throughout Europe. However, the Colonial office persuaded the British Government that it should offer employment to British subjects of the Commonwealth, creating a multiethnic Britain. Although the new postwar limits of Britain's political role were confirmed by the Suez Crisis of 1956, the international spread of the English language meant the continuing influence of its literature and culture, while from the 1960s its popular culture also found influence abroad. Following a period of global economic slowdown and industrial strife in the 1970s, 1984 saw the inflow of substantial North Sea oil revenues and economic growth.

Inequalities between the Protestant and Catholic groups in Northern Ireland, combined with fears among unionists of the claim by the Republic of Ireland to the whole island, led to a breakout of violence in 1966. Paramilitary groups were created by both sides, and after riots in Derry in 1969 the British Army was called in to try to maintain peace. On 24 March 1972 the Parliament of Northern Ireland was suspended, and Direct Rule was introduced from London. Eventually, the Anglo-Irish Agreement was signed in November 1985, in which the Republic of Ireland acknowledged the United Kingdom's rule in the North in exchange for some say in governance. Negotiations eventually led to the 1998 Good Friday Agreement between the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland reflecting the terms of a peace settlement supported by most of the main political parties. The Agreement, approved by referendums in both halves of Ireland, created a new Northern Ireland Assembly and a power-sharing executive. The constitution of the Republic was amended to replace a claim it made to the territory of Northern Ireland while also acknowledging the nationalist desire for a united Ireland. The IRA and most other armed organisations ended their activities and destroyed their weaponry.

The United Kingdom was one of the 12 founding members of the European Union at its launch in 1992 with the signing of the Maastricht Treaty. Prior to that, it had been a member of the EU's forerunner, the European Economic Community (EEC), from 1973. The end of the 20th century saw major changes to the governance of the UK with the establishment of devolved national administrations for Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales following pre-legislative referendums.

Geography

The total area of the United Kingdom is approximately . It consists of the island of Great Britain, the northeastern one-sixth of the island of Ireland, and smaller surrounding islands. It lies between the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea, coming within of the coast of northern France, from which it is separated by the English Channel. As of 1993 10% of the UK was forested, 46% used for pastures, and 25% used for agriculture. The Royal Greenwich Observatory, in London, is the defining point of the Prime Meridian.

The United Kingdom lies between latitudes 49° and 61° N, and longitudes 9° W to 2° E. Northern Ireland shares a land boundary with the Republic of Ireland. It is connected to continental Europe by the Channel Tunnel, which at ( underwater) is the longest underwater tunnel in the world.

England accounts for just over half of the total area of the UK, covering . Most of the country consists of lowland terrain, including nearly eight hundred islands, predominantly west and north of the mainland, notably the Hebrides, Orkney Islands and Shetland Islands. The topography of Scotland is distinguished by the Highland Boundary Fault a geological rock fracture which traverses Scotland from Arran in the west to Stonehaven in the east. The faultline separates two distinctively different regions; namely the Highlands to the north and west and the lowlands to the south and east. The more rugged Highland region contains the majority of Scotland's mountainous land, including Ben Nevis, which at is the highest point in the British Isles. Lowland areas, especially the narrow waist of land between the Firth of Clyde and the Firth of Forth known as the Central Belt, are flatter and home to most of the population including Glasgow, Scotland's largest city, and Edinburgh, its capital and political centre.

Wales accounts for less than a tenth of the total area of the UK, covering . Wales is mostly mountainous, though South Wales is less mountainous than North and mid Wales. The main population and industrial areas are in South Wales, consisting of the coastal cities of Cardiff, Swansea and Newport and the South Wales Valleys to their north. The highest mountains in Wales are in Snowdonia, and include Snowdon (), which, at is the highest peak in Wales. The highest peak in Northern Ireland is Slieve Donard at in the Mourne Mountains. Until the 19th century there was little change to those arrangements, but since then there has been a constant evolution of role and function. Change did not occur in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales in a uniform manner, and the devolution of power over local government to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland means that future changes are unlikely to be uniform either.

The organisation of local government in England is complex, with the distribution of functions varying according to the local arrangements. Legislation concerning local government in England is decided by the UK parliament and the government of the United Kingdom, because England does not have a devolved parliament. The upper-tier subdivisions of England are the nine Government office regions or European Union government office regions. One region, Greater London, has had a directly elected assembly and mayor since 2000 following popular support for the proposal in a referendum. It was intended that other regions would also be given their own elected regional assemblies, but a rejection by a referendum in 2004 of a proposed assembly in the North East region stopped this idea in its tracks. Below the region level, London consists of 32 London boroughs and the rest of England has either county councils and district councils or unitary authorities. Councillors are elected by First Past The Post in single member wards or by the multi-member plurality system in multi-member wards.

Local government in Northern Ireland has, since 1973, been organised into 26 district councils, each elected by single transferable vote with powers limited to services like collecting waste, controlling dogs, and maintaining parks and cemeteries. However, on 13 March 2008, the Executive agreed on proposals to create 11 new councils to replace the present system and the next local elections will be postponed until 2011 to facilitate this.

Local government in Scotland is divided on a basis of 32 council areas, with wide variation in both size and population. The cities of Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee are separate council areas as also is Highland Council, which includes a third of Scotland's area but just over 200,000 people. The power invested in local authorities is administered by elected councillors, of which there are currently 1,222 who are each paid a part-time salary. Elections are conducted by single transferable vote in multi-member wards that elect either three or four councillors. Each council elects a Provost or Convenor to chair meetings of the council and to act as a figurehead for the area. Councillors are subject to a code of conduct enforced by the Standards Commission for Scotland. The representative association of Scotland's local authorities is the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA).

Local government in Wales consists of 22 unitary authorities, including the cities of Cardiff, Swansea and Newport, which are separate unitary authorities in their own right. Elections are held every four years by First Past The Post with the most recent elections being in May 2008. The Welsh Local Government Association represents the interests of local authorities in Wales.

Dependencies

The United Kingdom has sovereignty over seventeen territories which do not form part of the United Kingdom itself, 14 British Overseas Territories and three Crown Dependencies.

The fourteen British Overseas Territories are Anguilla; Bermuda; the British Antarctic Territory; the British Indian Ocean Territory; the British Virgin Islands; the Cayman Islands; the Falkland Islands; Gibraltar; Montserrat; Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha; the Turks and Caicos Islands; the Pitcairn Islands; South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands; and the Sovereign Base Areas on Cyprus. British claims in Antarctica are not universally recognised. Collectively Britain's overseas territories encompass an approximate land area of and a population of approximately 260,000 people. They are the remnants of the British Empire; several have specifically voted to remain British territories.

The Crown Dependencies are British possessions of the Crown, as opposed to overseas territories of the United Kingdom. They comprise the Channel Island Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey in the English Channel, and the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea. Being independently administered jurisdictions, none forms part of the United Kingdom or of the European Union, although the UK government manages their foreign affairs and defence and the UK Parliament has the authority to legislate on their behalf. However, the power to pass legislation affecting the islands ultimately rests with their own respective legislative assemblies, with the assent of the Crown (Privy Council, or in the case of the Isle of Man in certain circumstances the Lieutenant-Governor). Since 2005, each Crown dependency has had a Chief Minister as head of government.

Politics

, Queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms]]

The United Kingdom is a unitary state under a constitutional monarchy. Queen Elizabeth II is head of state of the UK as well as of fifteen other independent Commonwealth countries. The United Kingdom has an uncodified constitution, as do only three other countries in the world. The Constitution of the United Kingdom thus consists mostly of a collection of disparate written sources, including statutes, judge-made case law, and international treaties. As there is no technical difference between ordinary statutes and "constitutional law," the UK Parliament can perform "constitutional reform" simply by passing Acts of Parliament and thus has the political power to change or abolish almost any written or unwritten element of the constitution. However, no Parliament can pass laws that future Parliaments cannot change.

Government

The UK has a parliamentary government based on the Westminster system that has been emulated around the world—a legacy of the British Empire. The Parliament of the United Kingdom that meets in the Palace of Westminster has two houses: an elected House of Commons and an appointed House of Lords, and any Bill passed requires Royal Assent to become law. It is the ultimate legislative authority in the United Kingdom since the devolved parliament in Scotland and devolved assemblies in Northern Ireland, and Wales are not sovereign bodies and could be abolished by the UK parliament.

The position of Prime Minister, the UK's head of government, belongs to the Member of Parliament who can obtain the confidence of a majority in the House of Commons, usually the current leader of the largest political party in that chamber. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are formally appointed by the Monarch to form Her Majesty's Government, though the Prime Minister chooses the Cabinet, and by convention HM The Queen respects the Prime Minister's choices.

, seat of both houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom]] The Cabinet is traditionally drawn from members of the Prime Minister's party in both legislative houses, and mostly from the House of Commons, to which they are responsible. Executive power is exercised by the Prime Minister and Cabinet, all of whom are sworn into Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, and become Ministers of the Crown. The Rt. Hon. David Cameron, leader of the Conservative Party, has been Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury and Minister for the Civil Service since 11 May 2010. For elections to the House of Commons, the UK is currently divided into 650 constituencies. Each constituency elects one Member of Parliament by simple plurality. General elections are called by the Monarch when the Prime Minister so advises. The Parliament Act (1911) requires that a new election must be called within five years of the previous general election.

The UK's three major political parties are the Conservative Party, the Labour Party, and the Liberal Democrats, who won between them 622 out of 650 seats available in the House of Commons: 621 seats at the 2010 general election and 1 more at the delayed by-election in Thirsk and Malton. Most of the remaining seats were won by minor parties that only contest elections in one part of the UK such as the Scottish National Party (Scotland only), Plaid Cymru (Wales only), and the Democratic Unionist Party, Social Democratic and Labour Party, Ulster Unionist Party, and Sinn Féin (Northern Ireland only, though Sinn Féin also contests elections in Ireland). In accordance with party policy, no elected Sinn Féin Member of Parliament has ever attended the House of Commons to speak in the House on behalf of their constituents as Members of Parliament are required to take an oath of allegiance to the Monarch. However, the current five Sinn Féin MPs have since 2002 made use of the offices and other facilities available at Westminster. For elections to the European Parliament, the UK currently has 72 MEPs, elected in 12 multi-member constituencies.

Devolved national administrations

in Holyrood is the seat of the Scottish Parliament]]

Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales each has its own government or Executive, led by a First Minister, and a devolved, unicameral legislature. England, the largest country of the United Kingdom, has no devolved executive or legislature and is administered and legislated for directly by the UK government and parliament on all issues. This situation has given rise to the so-called West Lothian question which concerns the fact that MPs from Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales can vote, sometimes decisively, on matters affecting England that are handled by devolved legislatures for their own constituencies.

The Scottish Government and Parliament have wide ranging powers over any matter that has not been specifically 'reserved' to the UK parliament, including education, healthcare, Scots law and local government. Following their victory at the 2007 elections, the pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP) formed a minority government with its leader, Alex Salmond, becoming First Minister of Scotland. The pro-union parties responded to the electoral success of the SNP by creating a Commission on Scottish Devolution which reported in 2009, recommending that additional powers should be devolved, including control of half the income tax raised in Scotland.

The Welsh Assembly Government and the National Assembly for Wales have more limited powers than those devolved to Scotland, although following the passing of the Government of Wales Act 2006, the Assembly can now legislate in some areas through Assembly Measures passed within clearly defined areas based upon, Legislative Competence Orders which can be granted on a case by case basis. The current Welsh Assembly Government was formed several weeks after the 2007 elections, following a brief period of minority administration, when Plaid Cymru joined Labour in a coalition government under the leadership of First Minister Rhodri Morgan until December 2009, after which Carwyn Jones became First Minister.

The Northern Ireland Executive and Assembly have powers closer to those already devolved to Scotland. The Northern Ireland Executive is led by a diarchy, currently First Minister Peter Robinson (Democratic Unionist Party) and deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness (Sinn Féin).

Law and criminal justice

of England and Wales.]] The United Kingdom does not have a single legal system since it was created by the political union of previously independent countries, with Article 19 of the Treaty of Union guaranteeing the continued existence of Scotland's separate legal system. Today the UK has three distinct systems of law: English law, Northern Ireland law and Scots law. Recent constitutional changes saw a new Supreme Court of the United Kingdom come into being in October 2009 to replace the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords. The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, including the same members as the Supreme Court, is the highest court of appeal for several independent Commonwealth countries, the UK overseas territories, and the British crown dependencies.

Both English law, which applies in England and Wales, and Northern Ireland law are based on common-law principles. The essence of common law is that, subject to statute, the law is developed by judges in court, applying statute, precedent and common sense to the facts before them, to give explanatory judgements of the relevant legal principles, which are reported and binding in future similar cases (stare decisis). The courts of England and Wales are headed by the Senior Courts of England and Wales, consisting of the Court of Appeal, the High Court of Justice (for civil cases) and the Crown Court (for criminal cases). The Supreme Court is the highest court in the land for both criminal and civil appeal cases in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland and any decision it makes is binding on every other court in the same jurisdiction, and often has a persuasive effect in other jurisdictions. —the supreme criminal court of Scotland.]] Scots law, a hybrid system based on both common-law and civil-law principles, applies in Scotland. The chief courts are the Court of Session, for civil cases, and the High Court of Justiciary, for criminal cases. The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom serves as the highest court of appeal for civil cases under Scots law. Sheriff courts deal with most civil and criminal cases including conducting criminal trials with a jury, known as sheriff solemn court, or with a sheriff and no jury, known as sheriff summary Court. The Scots legal system is unique in having three possible verdicts for a criminal trial: "guilty", "not guilty" and "not proven". Both "not guilty" and "not proven" result in an acquittal with no possibility of retrial.

Crime in England and Wales increased in the period between 1981 and 1995, though since that peak there has been an overall fall of 48% in crime from 1995 to 2007/08, according to crime statistics. The prison population of England and Wales has almost doubled over the same period, to over 80,000, giving England and Wales the highest rate of incarceration in Western Europe at 147 per 100,000. Her Majesty's Prison Service, which reports to the Ministry of Justice, manages most of the prisons within England and Wales. Crime in Scotland fell to its lowest recorded level for 32 years crime in 2009/10, falling by ten percent in the last year. At the same time, Scotland's prison population, at over 8,000, is hitting record levels and is well above design capacity. The Scottish Prison Service, which reports to the Cabinet Secretary for Justice, manages Scotland's prisons.

In 2006 a report by the Surveillance Studies Network found that the UK had the highest level of mass surveillance among industrialised western nations.

Foreign relations

, and the President of the United States, Barack Obama, during the 2010 G-20 Toronto summit.]] The United Kingdom is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, G8, G7, G20, NATO, OECD, WTO, Council of Europe, OSCE, and a member state of the European Union. The UK has placed a particular emphasis on its "Special Relationship" with the United States. Britain's other close allies include European Union and NATO members, Commonwealth nations and others such as Japan. Britain's global presence and influence is further amplified through its trading relations, official development assistance, and its armed forces, which as of 2008 maintained at least twenty military deployments around the globe.

Military

The United Kingdom fields one of the most technologically advanced and best trained armed forces in the world. According to various sources, including the Ministry of Defence, the UK has the third or fourth highest military expenditure in the world, despite only having the 25th largest military in terms of manpower. Total defence spending currently accounts for 2.5% of total national GDP. The British Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force are collectively known as the British Armed Forces and officially as HM Armed Forces. The three forces are managed by the Ministry of Defence and controlled by the Defence Council, chaired by the Secretary of State for Defence.

The UK maintains the largest air force and navy in the EU and second largest in NATO. The Royal Navy is a blue-water navy, currently one of only three, along with the French Navy and the United States Navy. The Ministry of Defence signed contracts worth £3.2bn to build two new supercarrier sized aircraft carriers on 3 July 2008. In early 2009, the British Army had a reported strength of 105,750, the Royal Air Force had 43,300 personnel and the Navy 38,160. The United Kingdom Special Forces, such as the Special Air Service and Special Boat Service, provide troops trained for quick, mobile, military responses in counter-terrorism, land, maritime and amphibious operations, often where secrecy or covert tactics are required. There are reserve forces supporting the Active military. These include the Territorial Army, the Royal Naval Reserve, Royal Marines Reserve and the Royal Auxiliary Air Force. This puts total active and reserve duty military personnel at approximately 404,090.

Despite the United Kingdom's military capabilities, recent pragmatic defence policy has a stated assumption that "the most demanding operations" would be undertaken as part of a coalition. Setting aside the intervention in Sierra Leone, operations in Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq may all be taken as precedent. The last war in which the British military fought alone was the Falklands War of 1982, in which they were victorious.

Economy

in the world alongside New York.]]

The UK has a partially regulated free market economy. Based on market exchange rates, the UK is today the sixth largest economy in the world and the third largest in Europe after Germany and France, after having fallen behind France in 2008 for the first time in over a decade. In recent years, the UK economy has been managed in accordance with principles of market liberalisation and low taxation and regulation. Government involvement throughout the economy is exercised by the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Since 1997, the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee, headed by the Governor of the Bank of England, has been responsible for setting interest rates at the level necessary to achieve the overall inflation target for the economy that is set by the Chancellor each year. In July 2007, the UK had government debt at 35.5% of GDP. This figure rose to 56.8% of GDP by July 2009. On 23 January 2009, Government figures from the Office for National Statistics showed that the UK was officially in recession for the first time since 1991. It entered a recession in the final quarter of 2008, accompanied by rising unemployment which increased from 5.2% in May 2008 to 7.6% in May 2009. The unemployment rate among 18 to 24-year-olds has risen from 11.9% to 17.3%.

The Industrial Revolution started in the UK with an initial concentration on the textile industry, followed by other heavy industries such as shipbuilding, coal mining, and steel production. The empire created an overseas market for British products, allowing the UK to dominate international trade in the 19th century. However, as other nations industrialised, coupled with economic decline after two world wars, the United Kingdom began to lose its competitive advantage and heavy industry declined, by degrees, throughout the 20th century. Manufacturing remains a significant part of the economy, but accounted for only one-sixth of national output in 2003.

; the central bank of the United Kingdom.]] The currency of the UK is the pound sterling, represented by the symbol £. The Bank of England is the central bank, responsible for issuing currency. Banks in Scotland and Northern Ireland retain the right to issue their own notes, subject to retaining enough Bank of England notes in reserve to cover the issue. Pound sterling is also used as a reserve currency by other governments and institutions, and is the third-largest after the U.S. dollar and the euro. The UK chose not to join the euro at the currency's launch. In 2007, Prime Minister Gordon Brown ruled out membership for the foreseeable future, saying that the decision not to join had been right for Britain and for Europe. The government of Prime Minister Tony Blair had pledged to hold a public referendum for deciding membership should "five economic tests" be met. In 2005, more than half (55%) of the UK were against adopting the currency, while 30% were in favour.

London is a major centre for international business and commerce and is the leader of the three "command centres" for the global economy (along with New York City and Tokyo). It is the world's largest financial centre with the London Stock Exchange, the London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange, and the Lloyd's of London insurance market all based in the City of London. London is also a major legal centre, with four of the six largest law firms in the world headquartered there. It has the largest concentration of foreign bank branches in the world. Many multinational companies that are not primarily UK-based have chosen to site their European or rest-of-world headquarters in London: an example is the US financial services firm Citigroup. The Scottish capital, Edinburgh, has one of the large financial centres of Europe and is the headquarters of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group, one of the world's largest banks. The creative industries accounted for 7% GVA in 2005 and grew at an average of 6% per annum between 1997 and 2005.

has wings and engines manufactured in the UK.]] The British motor industry is a significant part of the manufacturing sector, although it has diminished with the collapse of the MG Rover Group and most of the industry is foreign owned. Civil and defence aircraft production is led by BAE Systems, the second largest defence contractor in the world, and the continental European firm EADS, the owner of Airbus. Rolls-Royce holds a major share of the global aerospace engines market. The chemical and pharmaceutical industry is strong in the UK, with the world's second and sixth largest pharmaceutical firms (GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca, respectively) being based in the UK.

The UK service sector, however, has grown substantially, and now makes up about 73% of GDP. The service sector is dominated by financial services, especially in banking and insurance. Tourism is very important to the British economy. With over 27 million tourists arriving in 2004, the United Kingdom is ranked as the sixth major tourist destination in the world. London, by a considerable margin, is the most visited city in the world with 15.6 million visitors in 2006, ahead of 2nd placed Bangkok (10.4 million visitors) and 3rd placed Paris (9.7 million).

The poverty line in the UK is commonly defined as being 60% of the median household income. In 2007-2008, 13.5 million people, or 22% of the population, lived below this line. This is a higher level of relative poverty than all but four other EU members. In the same year, 4.0 million children, 31% of the total, lived in households below the poverty line, after housing costs were taken into account. This is a decrease of 400,000 children since 1998-1999.

Science and technology

The United Kingdom has played a leading role in the advancement of science.

The invention of the jet engine, by Frank Whittle

Evolution by natural selection, by Charles Darwin

The Turing machine, by Alan Turing, the basis of the modern computer.

The invention of the hovercraft, by Christopher Cockerell

The electric motor, by Michael Faraday, who largely made electricity viable for use in technology

The first practical telephone, patented by Alexander Graham Bell.

The structure of DNA, by Francis Crick and others

The first public steam railway, by George Stephenson

The invention of the World Wide Web, by Tim Berners-Lee.

Theories in cosmology, quantum gravity and black holes, by Stephen Hawking

The first commercial electrical telegraph, co-invented by Sir William Fothergill Cooke and Charles Wheatstone.

The invention of the incandescent light bulb, by Joseph Swan

The creation of postage and modern postal service, by Sir Rowland Hill

The discovery of penicillin, by biologist and pharmacologist, Sir Alexander Fleming.

Notable civil engineering projects, whose pioneers included Isambard Kingdom Brunel, contributed to the advancement of railway transport systems. Other advances pioneered in the UK include the marine chronometer, the jet engine, modern bicycle, electric lighting, steam turbine, electromagnet, stereo sound, motion picture, the screw propeller, the internal combustion engine, military radar, electronic computer, photography, aeronautics, soda water, IVF, nursing, antiseptic surgery, vaccination, antibiotics.

Scientific journals produced in the UK include Nature, the British Medical Journal and The Lancet. In 2006, it was reported that the UK provided 9 percent of the world's scientific research papers and a 12 per cent share of citations, the second highest in the world after the US. In the 1950s, the UK had more Physics Nobel Prizes than any other nation, despite its relatively small size.

Transport

. London Heathrow Airport has the most international passenger traffic of any airport in the world.]] There are of paved roads running throughout the UK, roads with a motorway network of . The rail network of the United Kingdom covers . The in Great Britain is standard gauge, while the in Northern Ireland is broad gauge.

In the year from October 2009 to September 2010 UK airports handled a total of 211.4 million passengers. In that period the three largest airports were London Heathrow Airport (65.6 million passengers), Gatwick Airport (31.5 million passengers) and London Stansted Airport (18.9 million passengers).

Energy

In 2006 the UK was the world's ninth-largest consumer of energy and the 15th largest producer. In 2007 the UK had a total energy output of 9.5 quadrillion Btus, of which the composition was oil (38%), natural gas (36%), coal (13%), nuclear (11%) and other renewables (2%). In 2009, the UK produced 1.5 million barrels per day (bbl/d) of oil and consumed 1.7 million bbl/d. Production is now in decline and the UK has been a net importer of oil since 2005. Production is now in decline and the UK has been a net importer of natural gas since 2004. Based on current UK coal consumption, these volumes represent reserves that could last the UK between 200 and 400 years.

The UK is home to a number of large energy companies, including two of the six oil and gas "supermajors" - BP and Royal Dutch Shell - and BG Group.

Demographics

A Census occurs simultaneously in all parts of the UK every ten years. The Office for National Statistics is responsible for collecting data for England and Wales with the General Register Office for Scotland and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency each being responsible for censuses in their respective countries. At the most recent census in 2001, the total population of the United Kingdom was 58,789,194, the third largest in the European Union, the fifth largest in the Commonwealth and the twenty-first largest in the world. By mid-2009, this was estimated to have grown to 61,792,000. In 2008, natural population growth overtook net migration as the main contributor to population growth for the first time since 1998. Between 2001 and 2008, the population increased by an average annual rate of 0.5 per cent. This compares to 0.3 per cent per year in the period 1991 to 2001, and 0.2 per cent in the decade 1981 to 1991. It has been estimated that the number of people aged 100 or over will rise steeply, to reach over 626,000 by 2080.

England's population in mid-2008 was estimated to be 51.44 million. with a particular concentration in London and the South East. The mid-2008 estimates put Scotland's population at 5.17 million, Wales at 2.99 million and Northern Ireland at 1.78 million, While a rising birth rate is contributing to current population growth, it remains considerably below the 'baby boom' peak of 2.95 children per woman in 1964, below the replacement rate of 2.1, but higher than the 2001 record low of 1.63. though recent genetic analysis indicates that "about 75 per cent of the traceable ancestors of the modern British population had arrived in the British isles by about 6,200 years ago, at the start of the British Neolithic or Stone Age", and that the British broadly share a common ancestry with the Basque people.

Britain has a history of small scale non-white immigration, with Liverpool having the oldest Black population in the country, dating back to at least the 1730s, and the oldest Chinese community in Europe, dating to the arrival of Chinese seamen in the 19th century. In 1950 there were probably fewer than 20,000 non-white residents in Britain, almost all born overseas.

Since 1945, substantial immigration from Africa, the Caribbean and South Asia has been a legacy of ties forged by the British Empire. Migration from new EU member states in Central and Eastern Europe since 2004 has resulted in growth in these population groups, but, as of 2008, the trend is reversing and many of these migrants are returning home, leaving the size of these groups unknown. As of 2001, 92.1% of the population identified themselves as White, leaving 7.9% of the UK population identifying themselves as mixed race or ethnic minority.

Ethnic diversity varies significantly across the UK. 30.4% of London's population and 37.4% of Leicester's was estimated to be non-white as of June 2005, whereas less than 5% of the populations of North East England, Wales and the South West were from ethnic minorities according to the 2001 census. As of 2007, 22% of primary and 17.7% of secondary pupils at state schools in England were from ethnic minority families.

Languages

. Countries in dark blue have a majority of native speakers; countries where it is an official but not primary language in light blue. English is also one of the official languages of the European Union and the United Nations]]

The UK does not de jure have an official language but the predominant spoken language is English, a West Germanic language descended from Old English which features a large number of borrowings from Old Norse, Norman French and Latin. Largely because of the British Empire, the English language has spread across the world, and become the international language of business as well as the most widely taught second language.

Scots, a language descended from early northern Middle English, is recognised at European level, as is its regional variant in the northern counties of Ireland, Ulster Scots. There are also four Celtic languages in use in the UK: Welsh, Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Cornish. In the 2001 Census over a fifth (21%) of the population of Wales said they could speak Welsh, an increase from the 1991 Census (18%). In addition, it is estimated that about 200,000 Welsh speakers live in England.

The 2001 census in Northern Ireland showed that 167,487 (10.4%) people "had some knowledge of Irish" (see Irish language in Northern Ireland), almost exclusively in the Catholic/nationalist population. Over 92,000 people in Scotland (just under 2% of the population) had some Gaelic language ability, including 72% of those living in the Outer Hebrides. The number of schoolchildren being taught in Welsh, Gaelic and Irish is increasing. Welsh and Scottish Gaelic are also spoken by small groups around the globe with some Gaelic still spoken in Nova Scotia, Canada (especially Cape Breton Island), and Welsh in Patagonia, Argentina.

Across the United Kingdom, it is generally compulsory for pupils to study a second language to some extent: up to the age of 14 in England, and up to age 16 in Scotland. French and German are the two most commonly taught second languages in England and Scotland. In Wales, all pupils up to age 16 are either taught in Welsh or taught Welsh as a second language.

Religion

is used for the coronation of British monarchs]] The Treaty of Union that led to the formation of the United Kingdom ensured that there would be a Protestant succession as well as a link between church and state that still remains. Christianity is the largest religion, followed by Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism and then Judaism in terms of number of adherents. In the 2001 Census 71.6% of respondents said that Christianity was their religion, however a Tearfund survey showed only one in ten Britons actually attend church weekly. 9.1 million (15% of the UK population) claimed no religion, with a further 4.3 million (7% of the UK population) not stating a religious preference. Between 2004 and 2008, the Office for National Statistics reported that the number of Christians in Great Britain (rather than the UK as a whole) fell by more than 2 million.

The largest religious group in England is Christianity, with the Church of England (Anglican) as the Established Church: the church retains a representation in the UK Parliament and the British monarch is a member of the church (required under Article 2 of the Treaty of Union) as well as its Supreme Governor. The Church of England also retains the right to draft legislative measures (related to religious administration) through the General Synod that can then be passed into law by Parliament. The Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales is the second largest Christian church with around five million members, mainly in England. There are also growing Orthodox, Evangelical and Pentecostal churches, with Pentecostal churches in England now third after the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church in terms of church attendance.

The largest religious group in Scotland is also Christianity, though the presbyterian Church of Scotland (known informally as The Kirk), is recognised as the national church. It is not subject to state control and the British monarch is an ordinary member, required to swear an oath to "maintain and preserve the Protestant Religion and Presbyterian Church Government" upon his or her accession. The Roman Catholic Church in Scotland is Scotland's second largest Christian church, representing a sixth of the population. There is also a Scottish Episcopal Church, which is part of the Anglican Communion.

The Church in Wales is 'disestablished' but remains in the Anglican Communion. Baptist Union of Wales, Methodism and the Presbyterian Church of Wales are present in Wales as well. The main religious groups in Northern Ireland are organised on an all-Ireland basis. Though Protestants and Anglicans are in the overall majority, the Roman Catholic Church of Ireland is the largest single church. The Presbyterian Church in Ireland is the second largest church followed by the Church of Ireland (Anglican) which was disestablished in the 19th century.

At the 2001 census, there were 1,536,015 Muslims in England and Wales, forming 3% of the population. Muslims in Scotland numbered 42,557 representing 0.84% of the population. According to a Labour Force Survey estimate, the total number of Muslims in Great Britain in 2008 was 2,422,000, around 4% of the total population.

Over 1 million people follow religions of Indian origin: 560,000 Hindus, 340,000 Sikhs with about 150,000 practising Buddhism. Leicester houses one of the world's few Jain temples outside India. Today British Jews number around 300,000 with the UK having the fifth largest Jewish community worldwide.

Migration

The United Kingdom has experienced successive waves of migration. The Great Famine brought a large influx of Irish immigrants. Over 120,000 Polish veterans settled in Britain after World War II, unable to return home. In the 20th century, significant immigration from the British Empire occurred, driven largely by post-Second World War labour shortages. Many of these migrants came from the West Indies and from the Indian subcontinent.

The proportion of foreign-born people in the UK remains slightly below that of some other European countries, although immigration is now contributing to a rising population, accounting for about half of the population increase between 1991 and 2001. Analysis of Office for National Statistics data shows that 2.3 million net migrants moved to the UK in the period 1991 to 2006. In 2008 it was predicted that migration would add 7 million to the UK population by 2031, though these figures are disputed. The latest provisional official figures show that, in 2009, 567,000 people arrived to live in the UK whilst 371,000 left, meaning that net inward migration was 196,000.

A record 203,790 foreign nationals became British citizens in 2009. Also in 2009, 194,780 people were granted permanent settlement rights, of whom people from the Indian subcontinent accounted for 34 per cent. Of the rest, 25 per cent were from Africa and 21 per cent from elsewhere in Asia. 24.7 per cent of babies born in England and Wales in 2009 were born to mothers who were born outside the UK, according to official statistics released in 2010.

At least 5.5 million British-born people are living abroad, with Australia, Spain, the United States, and Canada being the top four destinations. Emigration was an important feature of British society in the 19th century. Between 1815 and 1930 around 11.4 million people emigrated from Britain and 7.3 million from Ireland. By the end of the 20th century, it has been estimated, some 300 million people of British and Irish descent were permanently settled around the globe.

Citizens of the European Union have the right to live and work in any member state, including the UK. Transitional arrangements apply to Romanians and Bulgarians whose countries joined the EU in January 2007. Research conducted by the Migration Policy Institute for the Equality and Human Rights Commission suggests that, between May 2004 and September 2009, 1.5 million workers migrated from the new EU member states to the UK, with two-thirds being Polish, but that many have returned home, with the result that the number of nationals of the new member states in the UK increased by some 700,000 over the same period. The late-2000s recession in the UK reduced the economic incentive for Poles to migrate to the UK, with the migration becoming temporary and circular. In 2009, for the first time since the enlargement, more nationals of the eight Central and Eastern European states that joined the EU in 2004 left the UK than arrived.

The UK government is currently introducing a points-based immigration system for immigration from outside the European Economic Area that will replace existing schemes, including the Scottish Government's Fresh Talent Initiative. In June 2010, the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition government introduced a temporary cap on immigration of those entering the UK from outside the EU, with the limit set at 24,100, in order to stop an expected rush of applications before a permanent cap is imposed in April 2011. The cap has caused tension within the coalition, with business secretary Vince Cable arguing that it is harming British businesses.

Education

, part of the University of Cambridge]] Education in the United Kingdom is a devolved matter, with each country having a separate education system.

Education in England is the responsibility of the Secretary of State for Education, though the day-to-day administration and funding of state schools is the responsibility of Local Authorities (previously named Local Education Authorities). Universal state education in England and Wales was introduced for primary level in 1870 and secondary level in 1900. Education is mandatory from ages five to sixteen (15 if born in late July or August). The majority of children are educated in state-sector schools, only a small proportion of which select on the grounds of academic ability. State schools which are allowed to select pupils according to intelligence and academic ability can achieve comparable results to the most selective private schools: out of the top ten performing schools in terms of GCSE results in 2006 two were state-run grammar schools. Despite a fall in actual numbers, the proportion of children in England attending private schools has risen to over 7%. However over half of students at the leading universities of Cambridge and Oxford had attended state schools. The universities of England include some of the top universities in the world; University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, Imperial College London and University College London are ranked in the global top 10 in the 2008 THE–QS World University Rankings. Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) rated pupils in England 7th in the world for maths, and 6th for science. The results put England's pupils ahead of other European countries, including Germany and Scandinavian countries.

, built in 1849 and one of the oldest higher education institutions in the United Kingdom]] Education in Scotland is the responsibility of the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning, with day-to-day administration and funding of state schools the responsibility of Local Authorities. Two non-departmental public bodies have key roles in Scottish education: the Scottish Qualifications Authority is responsible for the development, accreditation, assessment and certification of qualifications other than degrees which are delivered at secondary schools, post-secondary colleges of further education and other centres; and Learning and Teaching Scotland provides advice, resources and staff development to the education community to promote curriculum development and create a culture of innovation, ambition and excellence. Scotland first legislated for compulsory education in 1496. The proportion of children in Scotland attending private schools is just over 4%, although it has been rising slowly in recent years. Scottish students who attend Scottish universities pay neither tuition fees nor graduate endowment charges, as fees were abolished in 2001 and the graduate endowment scheme was abolished in 2008.

Education in Northern Ireland is the responsibility of the Minister of Education and the Minister for Employment and Learning, although responsibility at a local level is administered by five education and library boards, covering different geographical areas. The 'Council for the Curriculum, Examinations & Assessment (CCEA) is the body responsible for advising the government on what should be taught in Northern Ireland's schools, monitoring standards and awarding qualifications. The Welsh Assembly Government has responsibility for education in Wales. A significant number of Welsh students are taught either wholly or largely in the Welsh language; lessons in Welsh are compulsory for all until the age of 16. There are plans to increase the provision of Welsh-medium schools as part of the policy of having a fully bilingual Wales.

Healthcare

is a specialist children's hospital, part of NHS Scotland.]] Healthcare in the United Kingdom is a devolved matter and each country has its own system of private and publicly funded healthcare, together with alternative, holistic and complementary treatments. Public healthcare is provided to all UK permanent residents and is free at the point of need being paid for from general taxation. Taken together, the World Health Organisation, in 2000, ranked the provision of healthcare in the United Kingdom as fifteenth best in Europe and eighteenth in the world.

Regulatory bodies are organised on a UK-wide basis such as the General Medical Council, the Nursing and Midwifery Council and non-governmental-based, such as Royal Colleges. However, political and operational responsibility for healthcare lies with four national executives; healthcare in England is the responsibility of Her Majesty's Government; healthcare in Northern Ireland is the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Executive; healthcare in Scotland is the responsibility of the Scottish Government; and healthcare in Wales is the responsibility of the Welsh Assembly Government. Each National Health Service has different policies and priorities, resulting in contrasts.

Since 1979, expenditure on healthcare has been increased significantly to bring it closer to the European Union average. The UK spends around 8.4 per cent of its gross domestic product on healthcare, which is 0.5 per cent below the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development average and about one per cent below the average of the European Union.

Culture

The culture of the United Kingdom has been influenced by many factors including the nation's island status and its history as a western liberal democracy, major power, and a political union of four countries, with each preserving elements of distinctive traditions, customs and symbolism. As a result of the British Empire, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies, including Australia, Canada, India, South Africa and the United States.

Cinema

The United Kingdom has had a considerable influence on the history of the cinema. The British directors Alfred Hitchcock and David Lean are among the most critically acclaimed of all-time. Many British actors have achieved international fame and critical success, including Julie Andrews, Richard Burton, Michael Caine, Charlie Chaplin, Sean Connery, Vivien Leigh, David Niven, Laurence Olivier, Peter Sellers and Kate Winslet. Some of the most commercially successful films of all time have been produced in the United Kingdom, including the two highest-grossing film franchises (Harry Potter and James Bond). Ealing Studios has a claim to being the oldest continuously working film studio in the world.

Despite a history of important and successful productions, the industry has often been characterised by a debate about its identity and the level of American and European influence. Many British films are co-productions with American producers, often using both British and American actors, and British actors feature regularly in Hollywood films. Many successful Hollywood films have been based on British people, stories or events, including Titanic, The Lord of the Rings and Pirates of the Caribbean, and British influence can be seen in the 'English Cycle' of Disney animated films, including Alice in Wonderland, Robin Hood and One Hundred and One Dalmatians. In 2009 British films grossed around $2 billion worldwide and achieved a market share of around 7% globally and 17% in the United Kingdom. UK box-office takings totalled £944 million in 2009, with around 173 million admissions.

Literature

, believed to depict William Shakespeare]] 'British literature' refers to literature associated with the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands as well as to literature from England, Wales and Scotland prior to the formation of the United Kingdom. Most British literature is in the English language. The UK publishes some 206,000 books each year, making it the largest publisher of books in the world.

The English playwright and poet William Shakespeare is widely regarded as the greatest dramatist of all time. Shakespeare's contemporaries Christopher Marlowe and Ben Jonson added depth. More recently the playwrights Alan Ayckbourn, Harold Pinter, Michael Frayn, Tom Stoppard and David Edgar have combined elements of surrealism, realism and radicalism.

Notable pre-modern and early-modern English writers include Geoffrey Chaucer (14th century), Thomas Malory (15th century), Sir Thomas More (16th century), and John Milton (17th century). In the 18th century Daniel Defoe (author of Robinson Crusoe) and Samuel Richardson were pioneers of the modern novel. In the 19th century there followed further innovation by Jane Austen, the gothic novelist Mary Shelley, children's writer Lewis Carroll, the Brontë sisters, the social campaigner Charles Dickens, the naturalist Thomas Hardy, the realist George Eliot, the visionary poet William Blake and romantic poet William Wordsworth. Twentieth century English writers include science fiction novelist H. G. Wells, the writers of children's classics Rudyard Kipling, A. A. Milne (the creator of Winnie-the-Pooh) and Enid Blyton, the controversial D. H. Lawrence, modernist Virginia Woolf, the satirist Evelyn Waugh, the prophetic novelist George Orwell, the popular novelists W. Somerset Maugham and Graham Greene, the crime writer Agatha Christie (the best-selling novelist of all time), Ian Fleming (the creator of James Bond), the poets T. S. Eliot Philip Larkin and Ted Hughes, and the fantasy writers J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis and J. K. Rowling.

novelist Charles Dickens]] Scotland's contribution includes the detective writer Arthur Conan Doyle (the creator of Sherlock Holmes), romantic literature by Sir Walter Scott, children's writer J. M. Barrie, the epic adventures of Robert Louis Stevenson and the celebrated poet Robert Burns. More recently, the modernist and nationalist Hugh MacDiarmid and Neil M. Gunn contributed to the Scottish Renaissance. A more grim outlook is found in Ian Rankin's stories and the psychological horror-comedy of Iain Banks. Scotland's capital, Edinburgh, was UNESCO's first worldwide City of Literature.

Britain's oldest known poem, Y Gododdin, was probably composed in Cumbric or Old Welsh in the late 6th century and may contain the earliest reference to King Arthur. Geoffrey of Monmouth developed the Arthurian legend with his pseudohistorical account of British history, the Historia Regum Britanniae. Wales' most celebrated medieval poet, Dafydd ap Gwilym (fl 1320-1370), composed Welsh language poetry on themes including nature, religion and, especially, on love. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest European poets of his age. Until the late 19th century, the majority of Welsh literature was in Welsh, and much of the prose was religious in character. Daniel Owen is credited as the first Welsh-language novelist, publishing Rhys Lewis in 1885. The best-known of the Anglo-Welsh poets are both Thomases. Dylan Thomas became famous on both sides of the Atlantic in the mid 20th century. The Swansea writer is remembered for his poetry – his "Do not go gentle into that good night; Rage, rage against the dying of the light." is one of the most quoted couplets of English language verse – and for his 'play for voices'; Under Milk Wood. The influential Church in Wales 'poet-priest' and Welsh nationalist, R. S. Thomas, was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1996. Leading Welsh novelists include Richard Llewellyn and Kate Roberts.

Authors from other nationalities, particularly from Commonwealth countries, the Republic of Ireland and the United States, have lived and worked in the UK. Significant examples through the centuries include Jonathan Swift, Oscar Wilde, Bram Stoker, George Bernard Shaw, Joseph Conrad, T. S. Eliot and Ezra Pound, and more recently British authors born abroad such as Kazuo Ishiguro and Sir Salman Rushdie.

Media

. The BBC is the largest and oldest broadcaster in the world.]] There are five major nationwide television channels in the UK: BBC One, BBC Two, ITV, Channel 4 and Five—currently transmitted by analogue and digital terrestrial, free-to-air signals with the latter three channels funded by commercial advertising. The UK now has a large number of digital terrestrial channels including a further six from the BBC, five from ITV and three from Channel 4, and one from S4C which is solely in Welsh, among a variety of others. The vast majority of digital cable television services are provided by Virgin Media with satellite television available from Freesat or British Sky Broadcasting and free-to-air digital terrestrial television by Freeview. The entire UK will switch to digital by 2012. The BBC, founded in 1922, is the UK's publicly funded radio, television and internet broadcasting corporation, and is the oldest and largest broadcaster in the world. It operates several television channels and radio stations both in the UK and abroad. The BBC's international television news service, BBC World News, is broadcast throughout the world, and the BBC World Service radio network is broadcast in 33 languages globally, as well as services in Welsh on BBC Radio Cymru, Gaelic on BBC Radio nan Gàidheal in Scotland, and Irish in Northern Ireland. The domestic services of the BBC are funded by the television licence. The internationally targeted BBC World Service Radio is funded by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, though from 2014 it will be funded by the television licence. The international television broadcast services are operated by BBC Worldwide on a commercial subscription basis over cable and satellite services. This commercial arm of the BBC also forms half of UKTV along with Virgin Media. building.]] Radio in the UK is dominated by BBC Radio, which operates ten national networks and over forty local radio stations. The most popular radio station, by number of listeners, is BBC Radio 2, closely followed by BBC Radio 1. There are hundreds of mainly local commercial radio stations across the country, offering a variety of music or talk formats.

Traditionally, British newspapers could be divided into quality, serious-minded newspapers (usually referred to as "broadsheets" because of their large size) and the more populist, tabloid varieties. For convenience of reading, many traditional broadsheets have switched to a more compact-sized format, traditionally used by tabloids. The Sun has the highest circulation of any daily newspaper in the UK: 3.1 million, approximately a quarter of the market. Its sister paper, the News of the World has the highest circulation in the Sunday newspaper market, and traditionally focuses on celebrity-led stories. Aside from newspapers, British magazines and journals have achieved worldwide circulation including The Economist, Nature, and "New Scientist". Scotland has a distinct tradition of newspaper readership (see list of newspapers in Scotland). The tabloid Daily Record has the highest circulation of any daily newspaper outselling The Scottish Sun by four to one while its sister paper, the Sunday Mail similarly leads the Sunday newspaper market. The leading "quality" daily newspaper in Scotland is The Herald, though it is the sister paper of The Scotsman, the Scotland on Sunday, that leads in the Sunday newspaper market.

The Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Internet in the United Kingdom is .uk. The most popular ".uk" website is the British version of Google, followed by BBC Online.

Music

are one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed bands in the history of music, selling over a billion records internationally.]]

Various styles of music are popular in the UK, from the indigenous folk music of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, to heavy metal. Notable composers of classical music from the United Kingdom and the countries that preceded it include William Byrd, Henry Purcell, Sir Edward Elgar, Gustav Holst, Sir Arthur Sullivan (most famous for working with librettist Sir W. S. Gilbert), Ralph Vaughan Williams, and Benjamin Britten, pioneer of modern British opera. Sir Peter Maxwell Davies is one of the foremost living composers and current Master of the Queen's Music. The UK is also home to world-renowned symphonic orchestras and choruses such as the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the London Symphony Chorus. Notable conductors include Sir Simon Rattle, John Barbirolli and Sir Malcolm Sargent. Some of the notable film score composers include John Barry, Clint Mansell, Mike Oldfield, John Powell, Craig Armstrong, David Arnold, John Murphy, Monty Norman and Harry Gregson-Williams. George Frideric Handel, although born German, was a naturalised British citizen and some of his best works, such as Messiah, were written in the English language. A prolific composer of musical theatre whose works have dominated London's West End for a number of years and have travelled to Broadway in New York, Andrew Lloyd Webber has achieved enormous worldwide commercial success.

Prominent British contributors to have influenced popular music over the last 50 years include The Beatles, Queen, Cliff Richard, the Bee Gees, Elton John, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and The Rolling Stones, all of whom have world wide record sales of 200 million or more. The Beatles have international record sales of more than one billion. More recent UK music acts that have had international success include Coldplay, Radiohead, Oasis, Spice Girls, Amy Winehouse, Muse and Gorillaz.

A number of UK cities are known for their music scenes. Acts from Liverpool have had more UK chart number one hit singles per capita (54) than any other city worldwide. Glasgow's contribution to the music scene was recognised in 2008 when it was named a UNESCO City of Music, one of only three cities in the world to have this honour.

Philosophy

The United Kingdom is famous for the tradition of "British Empiricism", a branch of the philosophy of knowledge that states that only knowledge verified by experience is valid, and "Scottish Philosophy", sometimes referred to as the 'Scottish School of Common Sense'. The most famous philosophers of British Empiricism are John Locke, George Berkeley and David Hume, while Dugald Stewart, Thomas Reid and William Hamilton were major exponents of the Scottish "common sense" school. Two Britons are also notable for a theory of moral philosophy, Utilitarianism, first used by Jeremy Bentham and later by John Stuart Mill, in his short work Utilitarianism. Other eminent philosophers from the UK and the states that preceded it include Duns Scotus, John Lilburne, Mary Wollstonecraft, Sir Francis Bacon, Adam Smith, Thomas Hobbes, William of Ockham, Bertrand Russell and Alfred Jules Ayer. Foreign-born philosophers who settled in the UK include Isaiah Berlin, Karl Marx, Karl Popper, and Ludwig Wittgenstein.

Visual art

The Royal Academy is located in London. Other major schools of art include the Slade School of Fine Art; the six-school University of the Arts London, which includes the Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design and Chelsea College of Art and Design; the Glasgow School of Art, and Goldsmiths, University of London. This commercial venture is one of Britain's foremost visual arts organisations. Major British artists include Sir Joshua Reynolds, Thomas Gainsborough, John Constable, William Blake, J. M. W. Turner, William Morris, L. S. Lowry, Francis Bacon, Lucian Freud, David Hockney, Gilbert and George, Richard Hamilton, Peter Blake, Howard Hodgkin, Antony Gormley, and Anish Kapoor.

During the late 1980s and 1990s, the Saatchi Gallery in London brought to public attention a group of multigenre artists who would become known as the Young British Artists. Damien Hirst, Chris Ofili, Rachel Whiteread, Tracey Emin, Mark Wallinger, Steve McQueen, Sam Taylor-Wood, and the Chapman Brothers are among the better known members of this loosely affiliated movement.

Sport

. It is one of the most expensive stadia ever built.]] Major sports including association football, rugby league, rugby union, rowing, boxing, badminton, cricket, tennis and golf originated, or were substantially developed, in the United Kingdom and the states that preceded it. A 2006 poll found that football is the most popular sport in the United Kingdom. In international competitions, separate teams represent England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland in most team sports, as well as at the Commonwealth Games. (In sporting contexts, these teams can be referred to collectively as the Home Nations.) However, there are occasions where a single sports team represents the United Kingdom, including at the Olympics where the UK is represented by the Great Britain team. London was the site of the 1908 and 1948 Olympic Games, and in 2012 will become the first city to play host for a third time.

Each of the Home Nations has its own football association, national team and league system, though a few clubs play outside their country's respective systems for a variety of historical and logistical reasons. England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland compete as separate countries in international competition and, as a consequence, the UK does not compete as a team in football events at the Olympic Games. There are proposals to have a UK team take part in the 2012 Summer Olympics but the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish football associations have declined to participate, fearing that it would undermine their independent status—a fear confirmed by FIFA president Sepp Blatter. England has been the most successful of the home nations, winning the World Cup on home soil in 1966, although there has historically been a close-fought rivalry between England and Scotland.

's Millennium Stadium opened for the 1999 Rugby World Cup]] Cricket is claimed to have been invented in England and the England cricket team, controlled by the England and Wales Cricket Board, is the only national team in the UK with Test status. Team members are drawn from the main county sides, and include both English and Welsh players. Cricket is distinct from football and rugby where Wales and England field separate national teams, although Wales had fielded its own team in the past. Irish and Scottish players have played for England because neither Scotland nor Ireland have Test status and have only recently started to play in One Day Internationals. Scotland, England (and Wales), and Ireland (including Northern Ireland) have competed at the Cricket World Cup, with England reaching the Final three times. There is a professional league championship in which clubs representing 17 English counties and 1 Welsh county compete. Rugby league is a popular sport in some areas of the UK. It originates in Huddersfield, and is generally played in Northern England. A single 'Great Britain Lions' team had competed in the Rugby League World Cup and Test match games, but this changed slightly in 2008 when England, Scotland and Ireland competed as separate nations. Great Britain is still being retained as the full national team for Ashes tours against, Australia, New Zealand and France. The highest form of professional rugby league in the UK and Europe is Super League where there are 11 teams from Northern England, 1 from London, 1 from Wales and 1 from France. Rugby union is organised on a separate basis for England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland and each have a top ranked international team and were collectively known as the Home Nations. The Six Nations Championship played between the Home Nations, Italy and France is the premier international tournament in the northern hemisphere. The Triple Crown is awarded to any of the Home Nations who beats the other three in that tournament. Championships, a Grand Slam tournament, is held in Wimbledon, London every June/July]] The game of lawn tennis first originated from the city of Birmingham between 1859 and 1865. The Championships, Wimbledon are international tennis events held in Wimbledon in south London every summer and are regarded as the most prestigious event of the global tennis calendar. Snooker is one of the UK's popular sporting exports, with the world championships held annually in Sheffield. In Northern Ireland, Gaelic football and hurling are popular team sports, both in terms of participation and spectating. Irish expatriates throughout the UK also play them. Shinty (or camanachd) is popular in the Scottish Highlands.

Thoroughbred racing, which originated under Charles II of England as the "sport of kings", is popular throughout the UK with world-famous races including the Grand National, the Epsom Derby and Royal Ascot. The UK has proved successful in the international sporting arena in rowing. Golf is the sixth most popular sport, by participation, in the UK. Although The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews, in Scotland, is the sport's home course, the world's oldest golf course is actually Musselburgh Links' Old Golf Course. The UK is closely associated with motorsport. Many teams and drivers in Formula One (F1) are based in the UK and drivers from Britain have won more world titles than any other country. The UK hosted the very first F1 Grand Prix in 1950 at Silverstone, the current location of the British Grand Prix held each year in July. The country also hosts legs of the World Rally Championship and has its own touring car racing championship, the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC).

Symbols

in Plymouth. Britannia is a national personification of the UK.]] The flag of the United Kingdom is the Union Flag (also referred to as the Union Jack). It was created by the superimposition of the Flag of England, the Flag of Scotland and Saint Patrick's Flag in 1801. Wales is not represented in the Union Flag as Wales had been conquered and annexed to England prior to the formation of the United Kingdom. However, the possibility of redesigning the Union Flag to include representation of Wales has not been completely ruled out. The national anthem of the United Kingdom is "God Save the King", with "King" replaced with "Queen" in the lyrics whenever the monarch is a woman.

Britannia is a national personification of the United Kingdom, originating from Roman Britain. Britannia is symbolised as a young woman with brown or golden hair, wearing a Corinthian helmet and white robes. She holds Poseidon's three-pronged trident and a shield, bearing the Union Flag. Sometimes she is depicted as riding the back of a lion. At and since the height of the British Empire, Britannia has often associated with maritime dominance, as in the patriotic song Rule, Britannia!. The lion symbol is depicted behind Britannia on the British fifty pence coin and one is shown crowned on the back of the British ten pence coin. It is also used as a symbol on the non-ceremonial flag of the British Army. The bulldog is sometimes used as a symbol of the United Kingdom and has been associated with Winston Churchill's defiance of Nazi Germany.

See also

Outline of the United Kingdom

Notes

References

External links

; Government

Official website of the British Monarchy

Official website of HM Government

Chief of State and Cabinet Members

Official Yearbook of the United Kingdom statistics

; General information

United Kingdom from UCB Libraries GovPubs

; Travel

Official tourist guide to Britain

Category:Constitutional monarchies Category:Countries bordering the Atlantic Ocean Category:English-speaking countries and territories Category:European countries Category:Member states of the European Union Category:G8 nations Category:G20 nations Category:Island countries Category:Members of the Commonwealth of Nations Category:Members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Category:Member states of the Union for the Mediterranean Category:Northern Europe Category:Western Europe

Name	Sarah Brightman
Background	solo_singer
Born	August 14, 1960
Origin	Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, England
Genre	Classical crossover, operatic pop, symphonic rock, pop, New Age, rock, dance, electronica, techno, folk, traditional
Voice type	Lyric-coloratura soprano
Instrument	Vocals, piano, keyboards
Occupation	Singer, actress, songwriter, dancer
Years active	1976–present
Label	A&M; (1993)East West (1995–2001)Angel/EMI (1997–2007)Manhattan/EMI (2008–present)
Url	http://www.sarah-brightman.com

Sarah Brightman (born 14 August 1960) is an English classical crossover soprano, actress, songwriter and dancer. She began her career as a member of the dance troupes Pan's People and Hot Gossip and released several disco singles as a solo performer. In 1981, she made her musical theatre debut in Cats and met composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, whom she married. She went on to star in several Broadway musicals, including The Phantom of the Opera, where she played the role of Christine Daaé.The Original London Cast Album of the musical was released in CD format in 1987 and sold over 40 million copies worldwide, making it the biggest-selling cast album of all time.

After retiring from the stage and divorcing Lloyd Webber, Brightman resumed her music career with former Enigma producer Frank Peterson, this time as a classical crossover artist. She is among the most prominent performers in the genre, with worldwide sales of more than 26 million albums, with over 5 million (Platinum x 1, Gold x 8) in album sales in the United States. and over 2 million DVDs. The Recording Industry Association of America has named her the best-selling female classical artist of the twenty-first century in the United States.

Her duet with the Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli, "Time To Say Goodbye" became the highest and fastest selling single of all times in Germany with over 3 million copies sold in this country. and subsequently became an international success with over 5 million copies worldwide. She has now collected over 180 gold and platinum sales awards in 38 different countries,

Apart from music, Brightman has begun a film career, making her major debut in Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008), a rock opera-musical film directed by Darren Lynn Bousman, And in summer 2009, she completed filming Stephen Evans' "Cosi" or "First Night" in which she plays the role of a conductor, opposite Richard E. Grant. In addition, she recently formed her own production company, Instinct Films, where her first film is in pre-production.

Family and early life

Brightman, the eldest of six children, was born to businessman Grenville Geoffrey Brightman (1934–1992) and Paula Brightman (née Hall). She was raised in Little Gaddesden, a village near Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, England, and lived in John O'Gaddesden House in the village. At age three, she began taking dance classes at the Elmhurst School for Dance in Camberley, Surrey. and went on to perform in local festivals and competitions. At age 11, she successfully auditioned for The Arts Educational School, Tring Park, a boarding school specialising in performing arts. Brightman continued to study dance, particularly jazz, as a pupil of choreographer Arlene Phillips.

In 1976, she joined the dance group Pan's People and appeared on the BBC series Top of the Pops. She left a year later to lead Phillips' troupe Hot Gossip. More provocative than Pan's People, the group had a disco hit in 1978 with "I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper", which sold half a million and reached number six on the UK charts. Hot Gossip released a follow-up single, "The Adventures of the Love Crusader", six months later, but it failed to chart. Brightman, now solo, released more disco singles under Whisper Records, such as "Not Having That!" and a cover of the song "My Boyfriend's Back".

1981–1989: Stage career

In 1981, Brightman auditioned for the new musical Cats and was cast as Jemima. In rehearsals she met Andrew Lloyd Webber. The two married in 1984, and Brightman appeared in many of Lloyd Webber's subsequent musicals including Song and Dance and the mass Requiem, the latter written for her. With Requiem she earned her first Grammy nomination.

Brightman starred as Christine Daaé in Lloyd Webber's adaptation of The Phantom of the Opera. The role of Christine was written specifically for her.

After leaving Phantom, she performed in a tour of Lloyd Webber's music throughout England, Canada, and the United States, and performed Requiem in the Soviet Union. Studio recordings from this time include the single "Anything But Lonely" from Aspects of Love and two solo albums: the 1988 album The Trees They Grow So High, a compilation of folk songs accompanied by piano, and the 1989 album The Songs That Got Away, a musical theatre compilation of songs cut from shows by composers such as Irving Berlin and Stephen Sondheim.

By 1990, Brightman and Lloyd Webber separated. After their divorce, Brightman played the lead in Lloyd Webber's Aspects in London opposite Michael Praed, before transferring to Broadway.

Fly (1995), a pop rock album and her second collaboration with Peterson, propelled Brightman to fame in Europe with the hit "A Question of Honour". The song, introduced at the World Boxing Championship match between Germany's Henry Maske and Graciano Rocchigiani, combined electronic dance music, rock elements, classical strings, and excerpts from the aria "Ebben? ... Ne andrò lontana" from Alfredo Catalani's opera La Wally.

"Time to Say Goodbye" ("Con te partirò") was the second Brightman song debuted for Maske, this time at his retirement match. This duet with tenor Andrea Bocelli became an international hit and sold more than 3 million copies in Germany alone,

Brightman's mainstream exposure in the United States also began around this time, starting with an appearance on Bocelli's December 1997 PBS television special, duetting "Time to Say Goodbye"; later, in March 1998, her own PBS special, Sarah Brightman in Concert at the Royal Albert Hall, marked the point when she crossed from Billboard's Top Heatseekers chart to the Billboard 200 chart, with Time to Say Goodbye. In 1999, she appeared on the album I Won't Forget You by Princessa, another artist with whom Peterson had worked.

2000–2003: Further mainstream success

Later albums included Eden (1998) (the title track of which was a cover of a song by Belgian band Hooverphonic), and La Luna (2000). These albums, unlike Time to Say Goodbye, incorporated more pop music elements. Reviews were mixed – LAUNCHcast deemed Eden "deliriously sappy", while Allmusic called Eden "a winning combination" and La Luna "a solid, stirring collection".

Eden reached #65 on the Billboard 200 charts (certified Gold for selling over 500,000 copies), and La Luna peaked at #17 (La Luna has scanned 873.000 copies sold in the U.S.).

In 2001, Brightman released Classics (certified Gold for selling over 500,000 copies In United States), an album of operatic arias and other classical pieces including a solo version of "Time to Say Goodbye". Entertainment Weekly, although calling Brightman a "stronger song stylist than a singer", gave the album a grade of B-.

In 2002, Brightman released "The secret" on SASH!'s fourth studio album S4!Sash!. This song was re-released in 2007 as "The secret 2007 (Unreleased)" on SASH!'s sixth album 10th Anniversary.

Her 2003 album Harem represented another departure: a Middle Eastern-themed album influenced by dance music. On Harem, Brightman collaborated with artists such as Ofra Haza and Iraqi singer Kazem al-Saher. Nigel Kennedy contributed violin tracks to the songs "Free" and "The War is Over", and Jaz Coleman contributed arrangements. #1 on the Billboard Classical Crossover chart, and yielded a #1 dance/club single with the remix of the title track. Some time later, another single from the album (the ballad "Free", cowritten with Sophie B. Hawkins) became a second Top-10 hit on this chart.

The albums Eden, La Luna and Harem were accompanied by live world tours which incorporated the theatricality of her stage origins. Brightman acknowledged this in an interview, saying, "They're incredibly complicated...[but also] natural. I know what works, what doesn't work, all the old tricks." In both 2000 and 2001, Brightman was among the top 10 most popular British performers in the U.S., with concert sales grossing $7.2 million from 34 shows in 2000 and over $5 million from 21 shows in 2001. In contrast, a reviewer from the Boston Globe deemed the Harem tour "unique, compelling" and "charmingly effective."

Television specials on PBS were produced for nearly every Brightman album in the U.S.; a director of marketing has credited these as her number-one source of exposure in the country.

2006–2008: Diva and Symphony

Brightman released a DVD collection of her music videos on 3 October 2006 under the title of Diva: The Video Collection. is the accompanying CD, released on the same date. The album marked the first time Brightman has released a greatest hits album in the United States; it reached #1 on the Billboard Classical Crossover chart. (Classics, from 2001, featured seven new recordings in addition to the previously-released material, and her other reflective offering, The Best of 1990–2000, was a European-only release.) Diva was intended as a marketing strategy to bridge the gap between Brightman's previous 2003 album Harem and her next album that would be released on early 2008.

Brightman was one of the artists featured on the January 2007 series of the prime time BBC One show Just the Two of Us, partnered with English cricketer Mark Butcher. The pair finished the competition in third place.

Subsequent appearances include the Concert for Diana in July 2007, where she sang "All I Ask of You" from The Phantom of the Opera with Josh Groban, Around 15 million people from across the UK watched Concert for Diana at home, and it was broadcast to over 500 million homes in 140 countries; 7 July 2007 Chinese leg of Live Earth in Shanghai, where she performed four songs ("Nessun Dorma", "La Luna", "Nella Fantasia" and "Time to Say Goodbye") and debuted her single "Running" at the 2007 IAAF Championships in Osaka, Japan on 25 August. She also participated at the 2007 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, where she performed "The Journey Home" on the Jolly Polly Pirate Ship. She recorded a duet with Anne Murray singing "Snowbird" on Murray's 2007 album .

On 29 January 2008, Brightman released her first album in five years: Symphony, influenced by gothic music. The Title track of the album "Symphony" is a cover of "Symphonie" by the German band Silbermond. In the United States it became Brightman's most successful chart entry and also her highest ranked album on Billboard's "Top 200 Albums". It was also a #1 album on two other Billboard's charts: "Top Internet Albums" and "Top Classical Crossover Albums". The album moved there 31,463 copies in first week, according to Nielsen Soundscan. Nevertheless, the album flopped in the american album charts lasting only 11 weeks in the Billboard top 200 list. In contrast, in Canada the album debuted and peaked at #4 and in Mexico it entered at #9, where it peaked at #5; In both places, the median success that the album experienced was awarded with Gold Disc certifications.

Featured on the album are artists Andrea Bocelli, Fernando Lima, and KISS vocalist Paul Stanley, who duets with Brightman on "I Will Be with You", the album version of the theme song to the 10th Pocket Monsters motion picture, (Pokémon: The Rise of Darkrai). On 16 January 2008, she also appeared in concert at Vienna’s Stephansdom Cathedral performing songs from her new album. Special guests that sang duets with Sarah include Italian tenor Alessandro Safina, Argentinean countertenor Fernando Lima, and British singer Chris Thompson. Brightman made several appearances on television in the United States to promote Symphony, including Fashion on Ice on NBC on 12 January, The View on 30 January, Martha on 31 January and Fox and Friends on the Fox News Channel.

She performed two songs, "Pie Jesu" and "There You'll Be", at the United States Memorial Day concert on 25 May 2008 held on the west lawn of the United States Capitol in Washington D.C.. The top-rated show was broadcast live on PBS before a concert audience of 300,000 and millions more at home, as well as to American troops serving around the world on the American Forces Radio and Television Network. Brightman made her feature film debut as Blind Mag in the rock musical film Repo! The Genetic Opera which was released on 7 November 2008. Brightman was cast in the film at the last minute after the original actress who was cast for the role was dropped.

On 4 November 2008, Brightman released her first holiday album, entitled A Winter Symphony. To accompany Symphony and A Winter Symphony, Brightman embarked on a tour in Autumn 2008; "The Symphony World Tour" featured new and groundbreaking technology, with virtual and holographic stage sets that had never been seen before in any touring concert production. It grossed over $13 million in the first North American leg with 32 shows overall, cited as one of the top-grossing tours of the 2008 holiday season in North America. In addition to the tour, there were other appearances to promote the Christmas album such as the Walt Disney World Very Merry Christmas parade where Sarah sang "Silent Night" airing on ABC in the Christmas Morning. Sarah also performed in the Japanese TV show Happy Xmas Show (Nippon Television Network) which was aired on NTV(Japan) on December 23. Filmed at St. Brendan Catholic Church in Los Angeles, the songs performed included Lennon's "Happy Christmas (War is Over)" and "Symphony". Finally, the "I Believe in Father Christmas" music video was premiered on Amazon as part of their Twelve Days of Christmas program. The video was featured on the Music Homepage.

According to an article posted on Billboard, Brightman and EMI parted ways shortly after her Symphony: Live in Vienna was released. The album Symphony sold only 145,000 copies in the United States and over 700,000 worldwide, compared to her 1997' debut album in America, Timeless which sold 1,4 million in the United States and 3,5 million worldwide. Stated in the cited article, "The buzz about Brightman's exit was fueled earlier this week when her picture disappeared online and Billboard, citing unnamed sources, reported Friday that Brightman, 49, dropped the label.

2009-Present

Following her performance at the Beijing Olympics, Sarah was appointed as the Shanghai 2010 World Expo Promotion Ambassador in Britain. In anticipation of the Expo, she launched "Shanghai Week in London", which showcases the city's heritage and culture.

The music of Brightman was featured in the movie Amarufi: Megami no hôshû (international title: ), which was a special production to mark Fuji Television's 50th anniversary. The first Japanese movie to be shot entirely on location in Italy. In conjunction with the release of the movie Amalfi, Sarah released only in Japan an album titled Amalfi – Sarah Brightman Love Songs which reached Gold status in the aforementioned country.

, Mexico.]]

Autumn 2009 saw Brightman starting a new concert tour called "Sarah Brightman In Concert" covering Latin America with 13 sold-out performances in Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Chile, Argentina, and Brazil. The last venue of the tour was at the archaeological site of Chichen Itza. Called "The Concert of the Pyramid", the event meant Brightman becoming the first woman to give a concert at this new wonder of the world.

On November 2009, Brightman was in charge of the main theme song for the historical drama series Saka no Ue no Kumo. The song's lyrics are entirely in Japanese. Titled "Stand Alone," the song was composed by Joe Hisaishi and written by Kundo Koyama. It was included on the drama's soundtrack album, released on 18 November 2009.

On January 2010, Panasonic Corporation launched the song "Shall Be Done" performed by Brightman at Panasonic's Olympic Pavilion at LiveCity Yaletown, official celebration site of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games.

Brightman's career is now expanding into other disciplines. In summer 2009, she completed filming Stephen Evans' "Cosi," in which she plays the role of a conductor, opposite Richard E. Grant.

On 15 September 2010, Brightman appeared on America's Got Talent's finale episode before that season's winner was revealed. The soprano was the celebrity guest duetting with ten year old favorite contestant Jackie Evancho.

Given the increasing popularity of Brightman in Japan, the artist's record company prepared a tour to the Nippon country with 5 gigs in Tokyo alone, followed by presentations on Kanazawa, Nagoya, Osaka. Subsequentely the singer headed to perform in Canada, Macau, South Korea and Ukraine as well.

On November 3, 2010, just days before the onset of the Asian tour, Sarah was invited to sing at the Tōdai-ji Buddhist temple complex located in the city of Nara, Japan. The temple is a listed UNESCO World Heritage Site as "Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara".

Legal action against YouTube

Frank Peterson, a German composer, producer and copyright holder for several of Sarah Brightman's performances, sued YouTube in Germany for allowing Brightman's work to be posted by users. The Hamburg state court has now ruled that Google Inc.'s subsidiary YouTube LLC must pay.

Music and voice

performing "You and Me" the Beijing Olympic theme song.]] Brightman underwent vocal training first with Elizabeth Hawes, head of the Trinity Music College in London, and later with Ellen Faull of Juilliard. She currently studies with internationally known voice teacher David Romano. She has a three-octave vocal range. According to Brightman, her voice sometimes reaches an F6. However, her highest note sung in public and in studio is the E6 final of "The Phantom of the Opera".

David Caddick, a conductor of Phantom, has stated:

"What is amazing about Sarah is that she has two voices, really. She can produce a pop, contemporary sound, but she can also blossom out into a light soprano. The soprano part of her voice can go up to an E natural above high C. She doesn’t sing it full out, but it is there. Of course, she has to dance while she is singing some of the time, so it’s all the more extraordinary." Her personal influences include '60s and '70s musicians and artists such as David Bowie and Pink Floyd, The material on her albums ranges from versions of opera arias from composers such as Puccini (on Harem, Eden, and Timeless), to pop songs by artists such as Kansas ("Dust in the Wind" on Eden), Dido ("Here with Me" on La Luna), and Procol Harum ("A Whiter Shade of Pale" on La Luna). She sings in many languages which are English, Spanish, French, Latin, German, Italian, Russian, Hindi, Mandarin Chinese and Japanese.

Personal life

At age 18, in 1979, Brightman married Andrew Graham-Stewart, who then managed the German band Tangerine Dream. In 1980 they moved into The Manor House in Little Gaddesden. In 1983, she divorced Graham-Stewart. She met Andrew Lloyd Webber when she performed in Cats, and Lloyd Webber later divorced his first wife, Sarah Hugill, to marry her on 22 March 1984. in Hampshire. Their marriage saw intense media and tabloid scrutiny. Brightman acknowledged the marriage in a 1999 interview as a "difficult time" but also one of much creative output. in Hertfordshire after divorce and financial issues. Later, she experienced an ectopic pregnancy and two miscarriages with Peterson.

Her personal assets have been estimated to be around £30m (about US$49m).

Awards

1986 Grammy Nomination, Best Classical Artist, USA

2009 The 23th Japan Gold Disc Award 2009: Classic Album of the Year A Winter Symphony

2010 The 24th Japan Gold Disc Award 2010: Classic Album of the Year Amalfi - Sarah Brightman Love Songs

Golden Key to the city of Chicago

Golden Key to the city of Istanbul

Stage credits

Musicals

I and Albert (as Vicky and street waif), 1973 Picadilly Theatre, London

Cats (as Jemima), 1981 New London Theatre

The Pirates of Penzance (as Kate), 1982

Masquerade (as Tara Treetops), 1982

Nightingale (as Nightingale), 1982 Buxton Festival and the Lyric, Hammersmith

Song and Dance (as the girl, named: Emma), Palace Theatre in London on 28 April 1984

The Merry Widow (as Valencienne), 1985

The Phantom of the Opera (as Christine Daaé), 1986 Her Majesty's Theatre London, 1988 Broadway

Aspects of Love (as Rose Vibert), 1990

Plays

Trelawny of the Wells (as Rose Trelawney), 1992

Relative Values (as Miranda Frayle), 1993 Chichester Festival and Savoy Theatre

Dangerous Obsession (as Sally Driscoll), 1994 Haymarket Theatre, Basingstoke

The Innocents (as Miss Giddens), 1995 Haymarket Theatre, Basingstoke

Filmography

Granpa, 1989 animated children's film, singing "Make Believe" over the end credits

Zeit der Erkenntnis, 2000 feature film (Germany), as herself

Repo! The Genetic Opera, 2008 feature film, as Blind Mag

(Amalfi: Rewards of the Goddess), 2009 feature film (Japan), as herself

First Night (aka Cosi), 2010 feature film, as Celia

Selected discography

Selected albums

Dive (1993)

Fly (1995)

Time to Say Goodbye (1997)

Eden (1998)

La Luna (2000)

Classics (2001)

Harem (2003)

Symphony (2008)

A Winter Symphony (2008)

Cast recordings

Cats – Original London Cast (1981)

Nightingale – Original London Cast (1983)

Song and Dance – Sarah Brightman & Wayne Sleep (1984. Re-released 2007)

Andrew Lloyd Webber's Requiem – Domingo, Brightman, ECO, Maazel (1985)

The Phantom of the Opera – Original London Cast (1986)

Carousel – Studio Cast (1987)

Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008)

Tours

"A Timeless Evening With Sarah Brightman" (UK and Germany) 1997

"One Night In Eden Tour" 1999

"La Luna World Tour" 2000–2001

"Harem World Tour" 2004–2005 (2004: Worldwide, 2005: Mini-Tour in Japan)

"The Symphony World Tour" 2008–2009

"Sarah Brightman In Concert" October 2009 (Latin America)

"Sarah Brightman In Concert With Orchestra" October 2010 (Japan, Korea and Macau)

Duets

Andrea Bocelli - "Time to say Goodbye", "Canto Della Terra"

Plácido Domingo - Requiem (Lloyd Webber), "The Closing of the year", "La ci darem la mano", "Love Unspoken", "Time to say goodbye", "La Traviata: Libiamo ne' lieti calici... Brindisi", "Die Lustige Witwe - Lippen Schweigen","The Phantom Of The Opera: All I Ask Of You", "West Side Story: Maria & Tonight"

José Carreras - "Amigos para Siempre ", "Love Unspoken", "La Traviata: Libiamo ne' lieti calici... Brindisi"", "Subaru"

Michael Crawford - The Phantom of the Opera (Andrew Lloyd Webber)

José Cura - "Just Show Me How to Love You", "There for Me"

Josh Groban - "There for Me", "All I Ask of You"

Andrew Lloyd Webber - "Whistle Down the Wind"

Tom Jones - "Something in the Air"

Antonio Banderas - "The Phantom of the Opera"

Cliff Richard - "All I Ask of You", "Only You"

Gregorian - "Moment of Peace", "Join Me", "Héroes", "When A Child is Born", "Send Me An Angel", "Voyage Voyage", "Eden", "Don’t Give Up"

Riccardo Cocciante - "Frohlice Weihnacht", "Cantemos Rapaces", "Santa Claus is Coming to Town", "Silent Night"

Kazem Al Sahir - "The War is Over"

Nigel Kennedy - "Free"

Ofra Haza - "Mysterious Days"

Chris Thompson - "How Can Heaven Love Me", "I Will Be With You (Where The Lost Ones Go)", "The Phantom of the Opera"

Fernando Lima - "Pasión", "Ave Maria"

Alessandro Safina - "Sarai Qui", "Canto Della Terra", "The Phantom of the Opera" (Symphony World Tour - México, Asia)

Mario Frangoulis - "Carpe Diem", "Sarai Qui", "Canto Della Terra", "The Phantom of the Opera" (Symphony World Tour - EE.UU., Canadá)

Paul Stanley - "I Will Be With You (Where The Lost Ones Go)"

Liu Huan - "You And Me"

Dj Schiller - "The Smile", "I've Seen it All"

Sash! - "The Secret Still Remains"

Michael Ball - "All I Ask of You"

Richard Armitage - "Desert Fantasy"

Andrzej Lampert - "I Will Be With You (Where The Lost Ones Go)"

Sergey Penkin - "I Will Be With You (Where The Lost Ones Go)"

I Muvrini - "Tu Quieres Volver"

Eric Adams - "Where The Eagles Fly"

Jacky Cheung - "There For Me"

Steve Harley - "The Phantom of the Opera"

Erkan Akin - "Just Show Me How To Love You","The Phantom of the Opera", "Canto della Terra" and "Sarai Qui" in "Sarah Brightman In Concert 2009" a Tour in South America "Latin American Tour".

Paul Miles-Kingston - "Pie Jesu"

Connar Burrowes: "Pie Jesu" (This Is Your Life: Andrew Lloyd Webber, 1994)

Adam Clack: "Pie Jesu" (In Concert "At The Royal Albert Hall" - 1997)

Ben De'Ath: "Pie Jesu" (The Andrew Lloyd Webber Celebration, 1998)

Andrew Swait: "Pie Jesu" (The Classical Brit Awards - May 8, 2008)

Eric Scott Kincaid - "The Phantom of the Opera"

David Malek - "The Phantom of the Opera: All I Ask Of You"

Mark Butcher - "Take The Weather With You", "Heroes", "Leaving On A Jet Plane", "Let's Face The Music And Dance", "Music Of The Night", " Ain't No Sunshine", "The Rose", "Moon River"

Anne Murray - "Snowbird"

Lesley Garrett - "Abide with me" (FA Cup Final May 19, 2007)

Betty Buckley - "Memory" (Kennedy Center Honor - 3 December 2006)

This Duets was announced but were never made:

Florent Pagny - "Just Show Me How To Love You"

Biondo - "I Will Be With You (Where The Lost Ones Go)"

See also

List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. dance chart

List of number-one dance hits (United States)

List of Operatic Pop artists

References

External links

Category:1960 births Category:1980s singers Category:1990s singers Category:2000s singers Category:2010s singers Category:Living people Category:Alumni of the Arts Educational Schools Category:English dancers Category:English female singers Category:English-language singers Category:English musical theatre actors Category:English rock singers Category:English singer-songwriters Category:English sopranos Category:English stage actors Category:Female rock singers Category:French-language singers Category:German-language singers Category:Italian-language singers Category:Opera crossover singers Category:People from Berkhamsted Category:Spanish-language singers

:Not to be confused with Paul Young (Sad Café).

Name	Paul Young
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Paul Antony Young
Born	January 17, 1956
Origin	Luton, England
Instrument	BassVocalsGuitar
Genre	RockBlue-eyed soul
Years active	1978–present
Label	Columbia RecordsMCA RecordsSpectra Records (US)
Associated acts	Kat Kool & The Kool KatsStreetbandQ-Tips Pino Palladino
Url	paul-young.com

Paul Antony Young (born 17 January 1956) is an English pop musician.

Biography

Paul Young was born in Luton, Bedfordshire, England. He has an older brother, Mark Young, and a younger sister, Joanne Young. As a youth, after school, he played football for the Vauxhall Motors factory and in his spare time played in several bands as a bass guitarist. The first group for which he became lead singer was Kat Kool & The Kool Kats.

In the late 1970s he joined Streetband, who had one Top 20 hit in the UK, with the humorous, novelty track "Toast". The single peaked at No. 18 in November 1978. In December 1979 the Streetband broke up and Young formed the Q-Tips, who established their name by playing live but had no hits in the UK, although their single "Letter Song" did enjoy minor success in mainland Europe.

The Q-Tips disbanded in 1982, and Young was signed by CBS Records as a solo performer. By way of tying up some loose contractual ends, Paul Young embarked on the ‘Last Chance To See The Best Live Band In The World Tour’ throughout March and April of ‘82. Though initially billed as Q-Tips, only keyboardist Ian Kewley accompanied Young, and without the surging brass section of Q-Tips, the band had an entirely different dynamic. The Rewind label issued a live set of Q-Tips during this period, ‘Live At Last’, and a decade later the band’s much vaunted BBC sessions were officially released. The famed Q-Tips brass section toured with Adam Ant during his ‘Friend Or Foe’ tour, but aside from a brief 1993 reunion with Paul Young, the Q-Tips brand (of the band variety) came to an end. Paul Young’s new backing band 'The Royal Family' included keyboardist Kewley, fretless bass player extraordinaire Pino Palladino, guitarist Steve Bolton, drummer Mike Pinder, and backing singers Maz Roberts and Kim Leslie AKA 'The Fabulous Wealthy Tarts'. Helped by the driving sound of Pino Palladino's fretless bass in his backing band, his first two singles, "Iron Out the Rough Spots" and a cover of "Love of the Common People", had no success, but the third, a cover of the Marvin Gaye classic "Wherever I Lay My Hat (That's My Home)", reached No. 1 in the UK singles chart for three weeks in the summer of 1983, the first of 14 British Top 40 singles. (The song was included on the soundtrack of the 1992 British comedy film Peter's Friends.)

Similar success followed all over Europe. In the UK, follow-up single "Come Back and Stay" reached No. 4, and a re-release of "Love of the Common People" made it to No. 2 and even received radio airplay in the United States (thanks to its soundtrack inclusion in John Hughes' film "Sixteen Candles"), while his debut album No Parlez was certified platinum in various countries.

Young's style at the time was a warm, approachable white soul, though he sometimes received playful criticism for his fashion decisions. However, his choice of an Antony Price leather suit for the cover of No Parlez proved to be impractical for the concert stage, where his energetic shows dictated more robust clothing.

The year 1984 was a difficult one for Young, as his first heavy promotional and live concert tour of America strained his vocal cords severely, to the extent that he was completely unable to sing for most of the year. He recovered sufficiently to provide a famous lead performance on the opening and closing lines to the Band Aid single "Do They Know It's Christmas?" He returned to the U.K. Top Ten with a version of Ann Peebles' "I'm Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down". The latter appeared on his second album, ' The Secret of Association, released in 1985, which secured his future success in the United States, Japan and Australia. The album went to No. 1 in the UK. However, he continued to have occasional voice and throat difficulties. That year, Young scored the biggest worldwide hit of his career with "Every Time You Go Away", a version of a Daryl Hall song from a 1980 Hall & Oates album. "Every Time You Go Away" topped the pop charts in both the U.K. and U.S., and was his biggest success in the U.S. He would perform the song during the London segment of the Live Aid concert.

In 1990, he released a cover of The Chi-Lites' "Oh Girl", which peaked at #8 on the Billboard Hot 100.

He continued to have a successful career, with some highlights such as singing the Crowded House track "Don't Dream It's Over" at the Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute in 1988, producing a popular duet, "Senza una donna (Without a Woman)," with Italian blues singer Zucchero in 1991, and singing "Radio Ga Ga" with the surviving members of Queen in 1992, at The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert soon after Freddie Mercury died. In 1991, he recorded a duet with Irish group Clannad for the Blake Edwards film Switch, a cover of the Joni Mitchell song, "Both Sides Now".

"Don't Dream It's Over", "Senza una donna (Without a Woman)" and "Both Sides Now" were all featured on his first greatest hits album, From Time To Time - The Singles Collection, released in 1990. The album included the most prominent hit singles from Young's first four solo albums, the three above-mentioned songs, and a previously unreleased selection called "I'm Only Foolin' Myself". Festival]] The compilation also went to No. 1 in the UK album charts.

In 1993, Young was freed from his contract with the CBS/Sony Records label, and he released fewer solo albums after that. He reformed the Q-Tips for a short series of concerts that year. He contributed to the Vangelis album Voices in 1995. Young sang the British national anthem, "God Save the Queen", on the eve of England's Euro '96 semifinal match against Germany. From there, he was known to divide his time between family, the informal Tex-Mex group Los Pacaminos, and performing live during '80s revival tours in the UK between 2001 and 2008. In November 2001, when Paul was on the final night of the Here and Now tour, Michael Aspel awarded him his This is Your Life book. The show went out on BBC One on 5 December that year.

In September 2006, he appeared in the BBC1 cooking show Celebrity MasterChef, and won his show, allowing him a place in the semi-finals. A year later, he was a contestant on another cooking show, ITV's Hell's Kitchen.

As of 2010, Paul Young is, according to his website, recording a new album, slated for release the same year.

Personal life

Paul met his wife, former model Stacey Smith, on his video for "Come Back and Stay" in 1983. They married while they were living in Los Angeles in November 1987. Together they have three children: daughters Levi (born March 1987), Layla (born August 1994), and son Grady Cole (born January 1996). Young and Smith split in May 2006; however, in March 2009, it was announced that they had reconciled. Young is a close friend of singer and Spandau Ballet front man Tony Hadley. The two toured Australia and New Zealand during October and November 2008.

Discography

References

External links

Official website

Category:1956 births Category:Living people Category:English male singers Category:English pop singers Category:People from Luton Category:BRIT Award winners

Name	George Galloway
Caption	Galloway at a Stop The War protest in London, 24 February 2007
Birth date	August 16, 1954
Birth place	Dundee, Scotland
Residence	London, England, UK
Office	Vice President of the Stop The War Coalition
Term start	21 September 2001
President	Tony Benn
Predecessor	Office created
Constituency mp1	Bethnal Green and Bow
Majority1	823 (1.9%)
Term start1	5 May 2005
Term end1	12 April 2010
Predecessor1	Oona King
Successor1	Rushanara Ali
Term start2	1 May 1997
Term end2	5 May 2005
Predecessor2	Constituency created
Successor2	Constituency abolished
Constituency mp2	Glasgow Kelvin
Majority2	7,260 (27.1%)
Term start3	11 June 1987
Term end3	1 May 1997
Predecessor3	Roy Jenkins
Successor3	Constituency abolished
Constituency mp3	Glasgow Hillhead
Majority3	4,826 (12.3%)
Party	Respect (2004–present)Labour (1967–2003)
Nationality	Scottish
Citizenship	British
Website	www.georgegalloway.com

George Galloway (born 16 August 1954) is a British politician, author, and broadcaster who was a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1987 to 2010. He was formerly an MP for the Labour Party, first for Glasgow Hillhead, and later for Glasgow Kelvin, before his expulsion from the party in October 2003, the same year that he came to public attention for his opposition to the American and British invasion of Iraq. He subsequently became a founding member of the left wing Respect Party, and through them represented Bethnal Green and Bow in the 2005 parliament. In the 2010 election, Galloway unsuccessfully contested the parliamentary seat of Poplar and Limehouse.

Galloway is also known for his vigorous campaigns in favour of the Palestinians in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. He attempted to both overturn economic sanctions against Iraq in the 1990s and early 2000s, and to avert the 2003 invasion. He is also known for a visit to Iraq where he met Saddam Hussein and delivered a speech, which has proven contentious, although Galloway actively opposed the regime until the United States-led Gulf War in 1991 and has always stated that he was addressing the Iraqi people in the speech.

Early and personal life

Galloway was born in the Lochee area of Dundee, Scotland, to a Scottish trade unionist father and Irish republican mother. He grew up in Charleston and attended Charleston Primary and then Harris Academy, a non-denominational school.

From 1979 to 1999, he was married to Elaine Fyffe, with whom he has a daughter, Lucy. In 2000, he married Amineh Abu-Zayyad. Zayyad filed for divorce in 2005. He married Rima Husseini, a Lebanese woman and former researcher, who in May 2007 gave birth to a son, Zein.

Galloway was raised as a Roman Catholic. He turned away from the church as a young man, but returned in his mid-20s. By his own account he decided to never drink alcohol at the age of 18, disapproves of it, and describes it as having a "very deleterious effect on people".

Labour Party organiser

Galloway joined the Labour Party at 13 years old and, within five years, was secretary of the Dundee West constituency party. His enthusiasm led him to become vice-chairman of the Labour Party in the city of Dundee and a member of the Scottish Executive Committee in 1975. On 5 May 1977, he contested his first election campaign in the Scottish district elections, but failed to hold the safe Labour seat at Gillburn, Dundee. He was beaten by the Independent candidate Bunty Turley, who was a trade unionist running on the campaign slogan "enough is enough" after allegations were made about Galloway's personal and financial behaviour. Galloway became the secretary organiser of Dundee Labour Party—the youngest ever Scottish chairman—in March 1981 at 26 years old.

His support for the Palestinian cause began in 1974 when he met a Palestinian activist in Dundee; he supported the actions of Dundee City council which flew the Palestinian flag inside the City Chambers. He was involved in the twinning of Dundee with Nablus in 1980, although he did not take part in the visit of Lord Provost Gowans, Ernie Ross MP and three city councillors to Nablus and Kuwait in April 1981.

Parliamentary career and public profile

War On Want

From November 1983 to 1987, Galloway was General Secretary of War On Want, a British charity that campaigns against poverty worldwide. In this post he was much travelled, writing eye-witness accounts of the famine in Eritrea in 1985 which were published in The Sunday Times and The Spectator.

The Daily Mirror accused him of living luxuriously at the charity's expense. An independent auditor cleared him of misuse of funds, though he did repay £1,720 in contested expenses. He later reportedly won £155,000 from the Mirror in an unrelated libel lawsuit.

More than two years after Galloway stepped down to serve as a Labour MP, the UK government investigated War on Want. It found accounting irregularities from 1985 to 1989, but little evidence that money was used for non-charitable purposes. Galloway had been General Secretary for the first three of those years. The commission said responsibility lay largely with auditors, and did not single out individuals for blame. The statement put Galloway on the front pages of the tabloid press and in February 1988 the Executive Committee of his Constituency Labour Party passed a vote of no confidence in him.

In 1990, a classified advertisement appeared in the Labour left weekly Tribune headed "Lost: MP who answers to the name of George", "balding and has been nicknamed gorgeous", claiming that the lost MP had been seen in Romania but had not been to a constituency meeting for a year. A telephone number was given which turned out to be for the Groucho Club in London, from which Galloway had recently been excluded (he has since been readmitted). Galloway threatened legal action and pointed out that he had been to five constituency meetings. He eventually settled for an out-of-court payment by Tribune.

The leadership election of the Labour Party in 1992 saw Galloway voting for fellow Scot John Smith for Leader and Margaret Beckett as Deputy Leader. In 1994, after Smith's death, Galloway declined to cast a vote in the leadership election (one of only three MPs to do so). In a debate with the leader of the Scottish National Party Alex Salmond, Galloway responded to one of Salmond's jibes against the Labour Party by declaring "I don't give a fuck what Tony Blair thinks." He called the Labour government "Tony Blair's lie machine." His most controversial statement from the interview may have been "Iraq is fighting for all the Arabs. Where are the Arab armies?". The Observer reported in 2003 that the Director of Public Prosecutions was considering a request to pursue Galloway under the Incitement to Disaffection Act, 1934, though no prosecution occurred.

On 18 April, The Sun published an interview with Tony Blair who said: "His comments were disgraceful and wrong. The National Executive will deal with it." The General Secretary of the Labour Party, citing Galloway's outspoken opinion of Blair and Bush in their pursuit of the Iraq war, suspended him from holding office in the party on 6 May 2003, pending a hearing on charges that he had violated the party's constitution by "bringing the Labour Party into disrepute through behaviour that is prejudicial or grossly detrimental to the Party". The National Constitutional Committee held a hearing on 22 October 2003, to consider the charges, taking evidence from Galloway himself, from other party witnesses, viewing media interviews, and hearing character testimony from Tony Benn, among others. The following day, the committee found the charge of bringing the party into disrepute proved, and so expelled Galloway from the Labour Party. Galloway called the Committee's hearing "a show trial" and "a kangaroo court".

2005 election

In January 2004, Galloway announced he would be working with members of the Socialist Alliance in England and Wales, and others, under the name Respect - The Unity Coalition, generally referred to simply as Respect. This was despite Galloway having a track record of antipathy toward Trotskyists, and the largest component of Respect being the Socialist Workers Party, which broadly identifies itself as part of the Trotskyist political tradition.

Some former members of the Socialist Alliance, including the Workers Liberty and Workers Power groups, objected to forming a coalition with Galloway, citing his political record, and his refusal to accept an average worker's wage, with Galloway claiming "I couldn’t live on three workers’ wages."

He stood as the Respect candidate in London in the 2004 European Parliament elections, but failed to win a seat after receiving 91,175 of the 115,000 votes he needed.

After his expulsion, he had initially fuelled speculation that he might call a snap by-election before then, by resigning his parliamentary seat, saying:

Galloway later announced that he would not force a by-election and intended not to contest the next general election in Glasgow. Galloway's Glasgow Kelvin seat was split between three neighbouring constituencies for the May 2005 general election. One of these, the redrawn Glasgow Central constituency, might have been his best chance to win, but had his long-time friend Mohammad Sarwar, the first Muslim Labour MP and a strong opponent of the Iraq War in place; Galloway did not wish to challenge him. After the European election results became known, Galloway announced that he would stand in Bethnal Green and Bow, the area where Respect had its strongest election results and where the sitting Labour MP, Oona King, supported the Iraq War. On 2 December, despite speculation that he might stand in Newham, he confirmed that he would be the candidate for Bethnal Green and Bow.

The ensuing electoral campaign in the seat proved to be a difficult one with heated rhetoric. The BBC reported that Galloway had himself been threatened with death by extreme Islamists from the banned organisation al-Ghurabaa. All the major candidates united in condemning the threats and violence.

On 5 May, Galloway won the seat by 823 votes and made a fiery acceptance speech, saying that Tony Blair had the blood of 100,000 people on his hands and denouncing the returning officer over alleged discrepancies in the electoral process. When challenged in a subsequent televised interview by Jeremy Paxman as to whether he was happy to have removed one of the few black women in Parliament, Galloway replied "I don't believe that people get elected because of the colour of their skin. I believe people get elected because of their record and because of their policies."

Oona King later told the Today programme that she found Paxman's line of question inappropriate. "He shouldn't be barred from running against me because I'm a black woman ... I was not defined, or did not wish to be defined, by either my ethnicity or religious background."

Constitutional Affairs minister David Lammy later criticised Galloway for the "manner in which he won that seat, whipping up racial tensions, dividing some of the poorest people in this country, I think was obscene." Lammy further called him a "carpetbagger."

"It's good to be back", Galloway said on being sworn in as MP for Bethnal Green after the May election. He pledged to represent "the people that New Labour has abandoned" and to "speak for those who have nobody else to speak for them."

Parliamentary participation statistics

After he was suspended and later expelled from the Labour Party, Galloway's participation in Parliamentary activity fell to minimal levels. After speaking in a debate on Iraq on 25 March 2003, Galloway did not intervene in any way in Parliamentary debates or ask any oral questions for the remainder of the Parliament and his participation in House of Commons Divisions was among the lowest of any MP.

Following the 2005 election, his participation rate remained low, at the end of the year he had participated in only 15% of Divisions in the House of Commons since the general election, placing him 634th of 645 MPs - of the eleven MPs below him in the rankings, one is the former Prime Minister Tony Blair, five are Sinn Féin members who have an abstentionist policy toward taking their seats, three are the speaker and deputy speakers and therefore ineligible to vote, and two have died since the election. Galloway claims a record of unusual activity at a "grass roots" level. His own estimate is that he has made 1,100 public speeches between September 2001 and May 2005.

In November 2005, Galloway's commitment to Parliamentary activity was again called into question when he failed to attend the Report Stage of the Prevention of Terrorism Bill in the House of Commons, despite Respect having urged its members to put pressure on MPs to attend. It was later confirmed that Galloway had been carrying out a speaking engagement in Cork, Ireland on the night (Galloway's spokesman asserted the performance was "uncancellable").

Although that stage of the bill failed by two votes, it initially appeared that the government won by a majority of only one, in which Galloway's attendance would have tied the vote. However, even in the case of a tie the vote would not have resulted in defeat for the government, because the vote was on an amendment (tightening the standard on what constitutes incitement to terrorism) and the amendment would not have passed. It would have taken three more "aye" votes to pass the amendment. All the same, Respect later put out a statement stating that it regretted the vote had been missed. The statement further claimed that Galloway had cleared his diary for all the subsequent votes on the bill. Galloway did attend a subsequent debate on the Bill, and voted against the final reading of the bill, which passed.

Questioned about this in a Guardian interview, Galloway responded: "I am in the Commons every day, apart from when I was banned. What I don't do is vote in the Commons and the reason for that is really quite banal. Almost every vote there is a yes or no vote, for either the prime minister's motion or the opposition leader's amendment. I almost never wish to vote for either, and there is no provision for abstention."

Galloway voted in support of the government's original draft of the religious hatred bill in 2006, which many people had feared would restrict artistic freedom and free speech.

As of September 2009, he still had one of the lowest voting participation records in parliament at 8.4% as a total of 93 votes out of a possible 1113 divisions.

Suspension from the House of Commons

On 17 July 2007, following a four-year inquiry, the House of Commons Select Committee on Standards and Privileges published its sixth report. The committee concluded that there was "no evidence" that Galloway gained any personal benefit from either the former Iraqi regime, or from the Oil-for-Food Programme. It did not examine the bank account of Galloway's former wife or their joint account.

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However, it found that Galloway's use of parliamentary resources to support his work on the Mariam Appeal "went beyond what was reasonable" and recommended he be suspended from the House.

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In response, Galloway stated

At a press conference following publication of the report, Galloway stated "To be deprived of the company for 18 days of the honourable ladies and gentleman behind me [in parliament] will be painful ... but I'm intending to struggle on regardless... What really upset them [the committee] is that I always defend myself... I am not a punchbag. If you aim low blows at me, I'll fight back".

The 2010 general election

On 10 August 2007, Galloway confirmed he would stand in newly created constituency of Poplar and Limehouse where the Labour Party has a notional majority of 3,942. The Labour candidate was the current Poplar and Canning Town MP Jim Fitzpatrick. Galloway said he had planned to stand down from Parliament at the next election, but was prompted to stay on and fight to win the neighbouring east London constituency after he felt he was unfairly suspended from Parliament for 18 days.

In the election Galloway was defeated, coming third after the Labour and Conservative candidates. He received 8,460 votes.

Political views

Galloway advocates greater spending on welfare benefits, and some nationalisation of large industries. Galloway is opposed to abortion, although he supports Respect's pro-choice stance. He opposes Scottish independence but supports the right of the people to vote on the matter via a referendum. He also supports the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. In the 2007 Scottish Parliament election, George Galloway supported Solidarity, despite not supporting all their policies, such as Scottish independence. Galloway has attracted most attention for his comments on foreign policy, taking a special interest in Libya, Pakistan, Iraq, and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. According to the report "Preventing terrorism, where next for Britain?" from the both private and public funded counter-extremism think tank Quilliam, Galloway is "Islamist backed". Inayat Bunglawala, chair of Muslims4Uk and a former MCB spokesperson, said: "This is just like something straight out of a Stasi manual. The advice from Quilliam is frankly appalling and incredibly self-serving."

Iraq and Saddam Hussein

Galloway opposed the 1991 Gulf War and was critical of the effect the subsequent sanctions had on the people of Iraq. He visited Iraq twice and met senior government officials. His involvement caused some critics to deride him as the "member for Baghdad North". In 1994, Galloway faced some of his strongest criticism on his return from a Middle-Eastern visit during which he had met Saddam Hussein "to try and bring about an end to sanctions, suffering and war". At the meeting, he reported the support given to Saddam by the people of the Gaza Strip and ended his speech with the phrase "Sir, I salute your courage, your strength, your indefatigability," although Galloway maintains that he was misinterpreted. Galloway's most recent public statement on the matter was in a January 2007 edition of the BBC's Hardtalk in which he states that he was saluting the "Iraqi people". Galloway's speech was translated for Hussein. Anasal-Tikriti, a friend of Galloways and a Respect candidate, spokesman for the Muslim Association of Britain said: "I understand Arabic and it [Galloway's salutation] was taken completely out of context. When he said "you" he meant the Iraqi people, he was saluting their indefatigability, their resolve against sanctions. Even the interpreter got it right and, in Arabic, says salutes the stand of the Iraqi people'."

In 1999, Galloway was criticised for spending Christmas in Iraq with Tariq Aziz, then Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister. In the 17 May 2005, hearing of the United States Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Galloway stated that he had had many meetings with Aziz, and characterised their relationship as friendly. After the fall of Saddam, he continued to praise Aziz, calling him "an eminent diplomatic and intellectual person". In 2006 a video surfaced showing Galloway enthusiastically greeting Uday Hussein, Saddam's eldest son, with the title of "Excellency" at Uday's palace in 1999. "The two men also made unflattering comments about the United States and joked about losing weight, going bald and how difficult it is to give up smoking cigars," according to The Scotsman.

In a House of Commons debate on 6 March 2002, Foreign Office Minister Ben Bradshaw said of Galloway that he was "not just an apologist, but a mouthpiece, for the Iraqi regime over many years." Galloway called the Minister a liar and refused to withdraw: "[Bradshaw's] imputation that I am a mouthpiece for a dictator is a clear imputation of dishonour" he said, and the sitting was suspended due to the dispute. Bradshaw later withdrew his allegation, and Galloway apologised for using unparliamentary language. In August 2002, Galloway returned to Iraq and met Saddam Hussein for a second time. According to Galloway, the intention of the trip was to persuade Saddam to re-admit Hans Blix, and the United Nations weapons inspectors into the country. s petition, sitting on the edge of the StWC stage at the 2005 Make Poverty History rally.]]

Giving evidence in his libel case against the Daily Telegraph newspaper in 2004, Galloway testified that he regarded Saddam as a "bestial dictator" and would have welcomed his removal from power, but not by means of a military attack on Iraq. Galloway also pointed that he was a prominent critic of Saddam Hussein's regime in the 1980s, as well as of the role of Margaret Thatcher's government in supporting arms sales to Iraq during the Iran/Iraq war. Labour MP Tam Dalyell said during the controversy over whether Galloway should be expelled from the Labour Party that "in the mid-1980s there was only one MP that I can recollect making speeches about human rights in Iraq and this was George Galloway." When the issue of Galloway's meetings with Saddam Hussein is raised, including before the U.S. Senate, Galloway has argued that he had met Saddam "exactly the same number of times as U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld met him. The difference is Donald Rumsfeld met him to sell him guns and to give him maps the better to target those guns." He continued "I met him to try to bring about an end to sanctions, suffering and war".

During a 9 March 2005 interview at the University of Dhaka campus Galloway called for a global alliance between Muslims and progressives: "Not only do I think it’s possible but I think it is vitally necessary and I think it is happening already. It is possible because the progressive movement around the world and the Muslims have the same enemies. Their enemies are the Zionist occupation, American occupation, British occupation of poor countries mainly Muslim countries."

Israel and Palestine

At a 22 July 2006 demonstration (and later in a Socialist Worker op-ed), Galloway stated "Hezbollah has never been a terrorist organisation!" The National Union of Students of the United Kingdom passed a motion condemning Galloway for this statement.

In an interview with the American radio host Alex Jones, Galloway blamed Israel for creating "conditions in the Arab countries and in some European countries to stampede Jewish people ... into the Zionist state". Jones then alleged that the "Zionists" funded Hitler, to which Galloway replied that Zionists used the Jewish people "to create this little settler state on the Mediterranean," whose purpose was "to act as an advance guard for their own interests in the Arab world..."

In a series of speeches broadcast on Arab television, Galloway described Jerusalem and Baghdad as being "raped" by "foreigners," referring to Israel's illegal annexation of East Jerusalem, and the war in Iraq.

Galloway was introduced as “a former member of the British Houses of Parliament” during a live interview with Qatari Al-Jazeera television, to which he responded: “I am still a member of parliament and was re-elected five times. On the last occasion I was re-elected despite all the efforts made by the British government, the Zionist movement and the newspapers and news media which are controlled by Zionism.”

Galloway expressed support for the Syrian presence in Lebanon five months before it ended, telling the Daily Star of Lebanon "Syrian troops in Lebanon maintain stability and protect the country from Israel". In the same article he expressed his opposition to UN resolution 1559 which urged the Lebanese Government to establish control over all its territory.

Blair and Bush

At the national conference of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers, on 30 June 2003, Galloway apologised for describing George W. Bush as a "wolf", saying that to do so defamed wolves:

On 20 November 2004, George Galloway gave an interview on Abu Dhabi TV in which he said:

On 20 June 2005, he appeared on Al Jazeera English to lambast these two leaders and others.

In an interview with Piers Morgan for GQ Magazine in May 2006, Galloway was asked whether a suicide bomb attack on Tony Blair with "no other casualties" would be morally justifiable "as revenge for the war on Iraq?". He answered "Yes it would be morally justified. I am not calling for it, but if it happened it would be of a wholly different moral order to the events of 7/7. It would be entirely logical and explicable, and morally equivalent to ordering the deaths of thousands of innocent people in Iraq as Blair did." He further stated that if he knew about such a plan that he would inform the relevant authorities, saying: "I would [tell the police], because such an operation would be counterproductive because it would just generate a new wave of anti-Muslim, anti-Arab sentiment whipped up by the press. It would lead to new draconian anti-terror laws, and would probably strengthen the resolve of the British and American services in Iraq rather than weaken it. So yes, I would inform the authorities." Some news analysts, notably Christopher Hitchens, took this to be a call for an attack while appearing not to.

The July 2005 London bombings

In the House of Commons, on the day of the 7 July 2005 London bombings that killed 52 people and injured hundreds, and following a visit to the Royal London Hospital in his constituency where many of the victims had been taken, Galloway condemned the attacks strongly, but argued that they could not be separated from the hatred and bitterness felt among Muslims because of injustices in Palestine, Iraq, and Afghanistan, including injustices, he said, suffered as a result of British foreign policy: }}

Winding up the debate for the government in the last moments allotted, Armed Forces Minister Adam Ingram described Galloway's remarks as "disgraceful" and accused Galloway of "dipping his poisonous tongue in a pool of blood." No time remained for Galloway to intervene and he ran afoul of the Deputy Speaker when trying to make a point of order about Ingram's attack. He later went on to describe Ingram as a "thug" who had committed a "foul-mouthed, deliberately timed, last-10-seconds smear." The men had previously clashed over claims in Galloway's autobiography (see below).

Pakistan coup of 1999

At the time of the 1999 Musharraf coup in Pakistan, he wrote, "In poor third world countries like Pakistan, politics is too important to be left to petty squabbling politicians. Pakistan is always on the brink of breaking apart into its widely disparate components. Only the armed forces can really be counted on to hold such a country together... Democracy is a means, not an end in itself and it has a bad name on the streets of Karachi and Lahore." Nonetheless, on his TalkSport talk radio show, Galloway has been outspoken in criticising the former Pakistani leader Pervez Musharraf.

Record on LGBT issues

In 1994, Galloway voted in support of the equalisation of the age of consent for homosexuality (which was then 21 years) with that for heterosexuality at 16 years. He also voted against a reduction of the homosexual age of consent to 18. He voted in favour of permitting unmarried and gay couples to adopt children. Critics have claimed that his involvement in the leadership of Respect - which made no explicit mention of gay rights in its 2005 election manifesto and accepted donations from Islamic Party members - raise questions about commitment to those issues, as does his rather poor voting record in parliamentary divisions, 80% of which he missed, during the 2001-5 parliament while still a Glasgow MP. However, Respect's 2005 conference, in which Galloway took part, resolved that explicit defence of equal rights and calls for the end to all discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people would be made in all of its manifestos and principal election materials.

Galloway's assertion on The Wright Stuff chat show (13 March 2008) that the executed boyfriend of homosexual Iranian asylum seeker Mehdi Kazemi was executed for sex crimes rather than for being homosexual received criticism from Peter Tatchell, among others. Galloway also stated on The Wright Stuff that the case of gay rights in Iran was being used by supporters of war with Iran.

2009 Iranian elections

Galloway has encouraged Western governments to accept the election of the conservative President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, contradicting the position of the exiled Iranian left.

Humanitarian work

Mariam Appeal

In 1998 Galloway founded the Mariam Appeal, intended "to campaign against sanctions on Iraq which are having disastrous effects on the ordinary people of Iraq". The campaign was named after Mariam Hamza, a child flown by the fund from Iraq to Britain to receive treatment for leukaemia. The intention was to raise awareness of the suffering and death of hundreds of thousands of other Iraqi children due to poor health conditions and lack of suitable medicines and facilities, and to campaign for the lifting of the Iraq sanctions that many maintained were responsible for that situation.

The fund received scrutiny during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, after a complaint that Galloway used some of the donation money to pay his travel expenses. Galloway said that the expenses were incurred in his capacity as the Appeal's chairman. Although the Mariam Appeal was never a registered charity and never intended to be such, it was investigated by the Charity Commission. The report of this year-long inquiry, published in June 2004, found that the Mariam Appeal was doing charitable work (and so ought to have registered with them), but did not substantiate allegations that any funds had been misused.

A further Charity Commission Report published on 7 June 2007 found that the Appeal had received funds from Fawaz Zureikat that originated from the Oil For Food programme, and concluded that: "Although Mr Galloway, Mr Halford and Mr Al-Mukhtar have confirmed that they were unaware of the source of Mr Zureikat’s donations, the Commission has concluded that the charity trustees should have made further enquiries when accepting such large single and cumulative donations to satisfy themselves as to their origin and legitimacy. The Commission’s conclusion is that the charity trustees did not properly discharge their duty of care as trustees to the Appeal in respect of these donations." They added: "The Commission is also concerned, having considered the totality of the evidence before it, that Mr Galloway may also have known of the connection between the Appeal and the Programme". Galloway responded: "I've always disputed the Commission's retrospective view that a campaign to win a change in national and international policy—a political campaign—was, in fact, a charity."

Viva Palestina aid convoy

In response to the 2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict, in January 2009 Galloway instigated the Viva Palestina aid convoy to the Gaza Strip. On 14 February 2009, after raising over £1 million-worth of humanitarian aid in four weeks, Galloway and hundreds of volunteers launched the convoy comprising approximately 120 vehicles intended for use in the Strip, including a fire engine donated by the Fire Brigades Union (FBU), 12 ambulances, a boat and trucks full of medicines, tools, clothes, blankets and gifts for children. The 5,000-mile route passed through Belgium, France, Spain, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt.

On 20 February, Galloway condemned Lancashire Police after they arrested nine of the volunteers under the Terrorism Act a day before the convoy's launch. Galloway said: "The arrests were clearly deliberately timed for the eve of the departure of the convoy. Photographs of the high-profile snatch on the M65 were immediately fed to the press to maximise the newsworthiness of the smear that was being perpetrated on the convoy." Viva Palestina reported an 80% drop in donations following the broadcast of the arrests and the police allegations on the BBC.

The convoy arrived in Gaza on 9 March, accompanied by approximately 180 extra trucks of aid donated by Libya's Gaddafi Foundation. All the British aid was delivered with the exception of the fire engine and boat which were blocked by the Egyptian government. The boat is to be delivered later in a flotilla of craft which Viva Palestina! intends to take into Gaza harbour. On 10 March 2009, Galloway announced at a press conference in Gaza City attended by several senior Hamas officials: "We are giving you now 100 vehicles and all of their contents, and we make no apology for what I am about to say. We are giving them to the elected government of Palestine," adding he would personally donate three cars and 25,000 pounds to Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniya.

The Charity Commission opened a statutory inquiry into Viva Palestinia! on 23 March 2009, citing concerns over the finances, use of funds for non-charitable purposes, and the lack of "substantive response" to their repeated requests. George Galloway admitted that the appeal had not responded to the requests, but argued that a substantive response was anyway due to be passed to the Charity Commission only hours after they launched the inquiry. He argued that the Charity Commission's actions were suspicious, hinting that they might be politically motivated.

A third Viva Palestina convoy began at the end of 2009. On 8 January 2010, Galloway and his colleague Ron McKay were deported from Egypt immediately upon entry from Gaza. They had been attempting to help take about 200 aid trucks into the Gaza Strip. They were driven by the police to the airport and put on a plane to London. The previous day an Egyptian soldier had been killed during a clash at the border with Hamas loyalists. Several Palestinians were also injured.

Corruption allegations and other controversies

Oil for Food

Daily Telegraph libel case

On 22 April 2003, the Daily Telegraph published an article describing documents found by its reporter David Blair in the ruins of the Iraqi Foreign Ministry. The documents purport to be records of meetings between Galloway and Iraqi intelligence agents, and state that he had received £375,000 per year from the proceeds of the Oil for Food programme. Galloway completely denied the story, and pointed to the nature of the discovery within an unguarded, bombed-out building as being questionable. He instigated legal action against the newspaper, which was heard in the High Court from 14 November 2004.

On 2 December, Justice David Eady ruled that the story had been "seriously defamatory", and that the Telegraph was "obliged to compensate Mr Galloway ... and to make an award for the purposes of restoring his reputation". Galloway was awarded £150,000 damages plus costs estimated to total £1.2 million. The court did not grant leave to appeal; in order to appeal in the absence of leave, the defendants would have to petition the House of Lords.

The libel case was regarded by both sides as an important test of the Reynolds qualified-privilege defence. The Daily Telegraph did not attempt to claim justification (a defence in which the defendant bears the onus of proving that the defamatory reports are true): "It has never been the Telegraph's case to suggest that the allegations contained in these documents are true". Instead, the paper sought to argue that it acted responsibly because the allegations it reported were of sufficient public interest to outweigh the damage caused to Galloway's reputation. However, the court ruled that, "It was the defendants' primary case that their coverage was no more than 'neutral reportage' ... but the nature, content and tone of their coverage cannot be so described."

The issue of whether the documents were genuine was likewise not at issue at the trial. However, it later transpired that the expert hired by Galloway's lawyers, a forensic expert named Oliver Thorne, said "In my opinion the evidence found fully supports that the vast majority of the submitted documents are authentic." He added "It should be noted that I am unable to comment on the veracity of the information within the disputed Telegraph documents, whether or not they are authentic."

The Telegraph lost their appeal on 25 January 2006, the same day as Galloway's Big Brother eviction, and on 15 February 2006, the newspaper announced it would not be seeking leave to appeal.

Others

The Christian Science Monitor also published a story on 25 April 2003, stating that they had documentary evidence that he had received "more than ten million dollars" from the Iraqi regime. However, on 20 June 2003, the Monitor reported that their own investigation had concluded the documents were sophisticated forgeries, and apologised. Galloway rejected the newspaper's apology, asserted that the affair was a conspiracy against him, and continued a libel claim against the paper.

The Christian Science Monitor settled the claim, paying him an undisclosed sum in damages, on 19 March 2004. It emerged that these documents had first been offered to the Daily Telegraph, but they had rejected them. The documents' origin remains obscure.

In January 2004, a further set of allegations were made in al-Mada, a newspaper in Iraq. The newspaper claimed to have found documents in the Iraqi national oil corporation showing that Galloway received (through an intermediary) some of the profits arising from the sale of 19.5 million barrels (3,100,000 m³) of oil. Galloway acknowledged that money had been paid into the Mariam Appeal by Iraqi businessmen who had profited from the UN-run programme, but denied benefiting personally, and maintained that, in any case, there was nothing illicit about this:

The report of the Iraq Survey Group published in October 2004 claimed that Galloway was one of the recipients of a fund used by Iraq to buy influence among foreign politicians. Galloway denied receiving any money from Saddam Hussein's regime. The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards had begun an investigation into George Galloway but suspended it when Galloway launched legal action. On 14 December, it was announced that this investigation would resume.

U.S. Senate

Allegations

In May 2005, a U.S. Senate committee report accused Galloway along with former French minister Charles Pasqua of receiving the right to buy oil under the UN's oil-for-food scheme. The report was issued by the US Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, chaired by Senator Norm Coleman, a Republican from Minnesota. The report cited further documents from the Iraqi oil ministry and interviews with Iraqi officials.

Coleman's committee said Pasqua had received allocations worth from 1999 to 2000, and Galloway received allocations worth from 2000 to 2003. The allegations against Pasqua and Galloway, both outspoken opponents of U.N. sanctions against Iraq in the 1990s, have been made before, including in an October report by U.S. arms inspector Charles Duelfer as well as in the various purported documents described earlier in this section. But Coleman's report provided several new details. It also included information from interrogations of former high-ranking officials in U.S. custody, including former Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz and former Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan. Among the claims is that there is new evidence to suggest that the Mariam Appeal, a children's leukaemia charity founded by Galloway, was in fact used to conceal oil payments. The report cites Ramadan as saying under interrogation that Galloway was allocated oil "because of his opinions about Iraq."

Socialist Worker reported what they say is evidence that the key Iraqi oil ministry documents regarding oil allocations, in which Galloway's name appears six times (contracts M/08/35, M/09/23, M/10/38, M/11/04, M/12/14, M/13/48) have been tampered with. They published a copy of contract M/09/23 and allege that George Galloway's name appears to have been added in a different font and at a different angle to the rest of the text on that line. In these documents (relating to oil allocations 8-13), Galloway is among just a few people whose nationality is never identified, whilst Zureikat is the only one whose nationality is identified in one instance but not in others. Galloway combatively countered the charges by accusing Coleman and other pro-war politicians of covering up the "theft of billions of dollars of Iraq's wealth... on your watch" that had occurred under a post-invasion Coalition Provisional Authority, committed by "Halliburton and other American corporations... with the connivance of your own government."

Galloway's response

On 17 May 2005, the committee held a hearing concerning specific allegations (of which Galloway was one part) relating to improprieties surrounding the Oil-for-Food programme. Attending Galloway's oral testimony and enquiring of him were two of the thirteen committee members: the chair (Coleman) and the ranking Democrat (Carl Levin).

Upon Galloway's arrival in the US, he told Reuters, "I have no expectation of justice from a group of Christian fundamentalist and Zionist activists under the chairmanship of a neo-con George Bush". Galloway described Coleman as a "pro-war, neo-con hawk and the lickspittle of George W. Bush", who, he said, sought revenge against anyone who did not support the invasion of Iraq.

In his testimony, Galloway made the following statements in response to the allegations against him:

He questioned the reliability of evidence given by former Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan, stating that the circumstances of his captivity by American forces call into question the authenticity of the remarks. Galloway also pointed out an error in the report, where documents by The Daily Telegraph were said to have covered an earlier period from those held by the Senate. In fact the report's documents referred to the same period as those used by The Daily Telegraph, though Galloway pointed out that the presumed forgeries pertaining to the Christian Science Monitor report did refer to an earlier period.

Galloway also denounced the invasion of Iraq as having been based on "a pack of lies" in his Senate testimony. The U.S. media, in reporting his appearance, emphasised his blunt remarks on the war. The British media gave generally more positive coverage; TV presenter Anne Robinson said Galloway "quite frankly put the pride back in British politics" when introducing him for a prime time talk show.

Alleged false or misleading testimony

A report by the then-majority Republican Party staff of the United States Senate Committee on Investigations published in October 2005 asserted that Galloway had given false "or misleading" testimony under oath when appearing before them. The report exhibits bank statements it claims show that £85,000 of proceeds from the Oil-for-Food Programme had been paid to Galloway's then-wife Amineh Abu-Zayyad. Galloway reiterated his denial of the charges and challenged the U.S. Senate committee to charge him with perjury. He claimed Coleman's motive was revenge over the embarrassment of his appearance before the committee in May.

Controversies at university debating societies

On 2 November 2006, The Times reported that Galloway was in a fracas at the Oxford Union. He was there to discuss his book. () In his speech to the Union, Galloway claimed "that democracy in Cuba is more “free” than in the UK", and when questioned on this, he mentioned "that Oxford students are too privileged to understand what he was talking about". Three former state school students who met him afterwards and disputed this description, allege that Galloway said: "I don’t represent anyone’s views. I represent me. I don’t give a fuck what anyone else thinks."

Sectarian attack at airport

On 10 June 2007, Galloway claimed that he was the victim of a sectarian attack at Glasgow Airport. He believes that his attackers were on the way home from attending an Orange Order parade in London and that they attacked him because he is a Celtic fan. However, no arrest was made in connection with this.

Support for the Soviet Union

Galloway once stated "I am on the anti-imperialist left... If you are asking did I support the Soviet Union, yes I did. Yes, I did support the Soviet Union, and I think the disappearance of the Soviet Union is the biggest catastrophe of my life. If there was a Soviet Union today, we would not be having this conversation about plunging into a new war in the Middle East, and the US would not be rampaging around the globe."

Forbidden to enter Canada

On 20 March 2009, Galloway was advised by the Canada Border Services Agency he was deemed inadmissible to Canada on "security grounds" due to his involvement in the Viva Palestina aid convoy to the Gaza Strip following the 2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict. The Gaza Strip is governed by Hamas, which is on Canada's list of terrorist organisations. This resulted from a personal donation of £25,000 made by Galloway ten days earlier. The Canadians ruled (and maintained on appeal) that this constituted explicit support for Hamas, although Galloway argued it was not the case as the money was intended to be used for aid purposes.

Galloway was on a lecture tour of North America, and was due to speak on war prevention and Gaza for a United Church congregation in Toronto, as well as for events in Mississauga, Ottawa and Montreal. Galloway was also described as an "infandous street-corner Cromwell" by Alykhan Velshi, a former lobbyist for the American Enterprise Institute who was then working as communications director for Jason Kenney, Canada's Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism. Galloway described the ban as "idiotic" and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney was accused by Jack Layton, leader of Canada's New Democratic Party (NDP), of being a "minister of censorship." Toronto Coalition to Stop the War, the group who invited Galloway to Canada, sought an emergency injunction to allow for his entry into Canada for the first speech in Toronto citing their rights to freedom of association and freedom of expression. Justice Luc Martineau cited non-citizens "do not have an unqualified right to enter in Canada. The admission of a foreign national to this country is a privilege determined by statute, regulation or otherwise, and not as a matter of right." The judge also noted "a proper factual record and the benefit of full legal argument...are lacking at the present time."

Galloway was allowed entry into Canada in October 2010, after a judge concluded that the original ban had been undertaken for political reasons. He continued to criticize Jason Kenney, saying that the minister had "damaged Canada's reputation" and had used "anti-terrorism" as a means of suppressing political debate. Galloway has also threatened to sue the Canadian government for the banning incident.

Forbidden to enter Egypt

On 8 January 2010, Galloway and his colleague Ron McKay were deported from Egypt immediately upon entry from Gaza. He had been attempting to help take 200 aid trucks into the blockaded Gaza Strip. They were driven by the police to the airport and put on a plane to London. The previous day an Egyptian soldier had been killed during clashes at the border with Hamas loyalists. Several Palestinians were also injured.

Publishing / media activities

Autobiography

His autobiography, I'm Not The Only One, was published on 28 April 2004. The book's title is a quotation from the song "Imagine" by John Lennon. Armed Forces Minister Adam Ingram applied for an interim interdict to prevent the book's publication. Ingram asserted that Galloway's text, which stated that Ingram "played the flute in a sectarian, anti-Catholic, Protestant-supremacist Orange Order band", was in bad faith and defamatory, although Ingram's lawyers conceded that for a year as a teenager he had been a member of a junior Orange Lodge in Barlanark, Glasgow, and had attended three parades. The Judge, Lord Kingarth, decided to refuse an interim interdict, that the balance of the arguments favoured Galloway's publisher, and that the phrase "sectarian, anti-Catholic, Protestant-supremacist" was fair comment on that organisation. Although Ingram was not and never had been a flute-player, the defending advocate observed that "playing the flute carries no obvious defamatory imputation ... it is not to the discredit of anyone that he plays the flute." The judge ruled that Ingram should pay the full court costs of the hearing.

Fidel Castro Handbook

Galloway also published the Fidel Castro Handbook, a biography of the former Cuban President in 2006 (MQ Publications. ISBN 1-84072-688-1).

Friction Books

In 2005 Galloway established Friction Books, an imprint for fiction and non-fiction, with longstanding associate Ron McKay. Friction claimed its purpose was to publish "books that burn, books that cause controversy and get people talking". it has released at least two books: Paco Ignacio Taibo II novel An Easy Thing and Topple the Mighty by Leon Kuhn and Colin Gile.

Celebrity Big Brother

In January 2006 Galloway appeared on the fourth series of the reality show for three weeks.

Big Brother's Big Mouth

Galloway acted as the guest presenter for the E4 companion programme to the 2007 edition of Big Brother, Big Brother's Big Mouth, from 5 June to 8 June 2007.

talkSPORT

Show name	The Mother of All Talk Shows
Italic title	no
Format	Political discussion
Runtime	Friday 22:00-01:00Saturday 22:00-01:00
Country	UK
Language	English
Home station	talkSPORT
Syndicates	Talk 107
Presenter	George Galloway
Rec location	Central London
Opentheme	The theme from Top Cat

On 11 March 2006, Galloway started broadcasting on Britain's biggest commercial radio station, the UTV-owned talkSPORT, and two weeks later started a simultaneous broadcast on Talk 107, TalkSPORT's Edinburgh-based sister station.

Billed as "The Mother Of All Talk Shows", Galloway began every broadcast by playing the theme from the Top Cat cartoon series. UTV said that Galloway was pulling in record call numbers and the highest ever ratings for its weekend slots, even pulling in more than the station's Football First programme.

On 3 January 2009, after Galloway was manhandled by riot police in London at the demonstration in protest over the Israeli offensive in the Gaza strip, the director of programming replaced Galloway with Ian Collins, saying that this would allow for more balanced reporting of the situation.

Galloway halted presenting the show on March 27, 2010, due to campaign commitments in the 2010 UK General Election. During this time, he was replaced by Mike Graham.

In August 2010, Galloway returned to the radio station with a new show bearing a similar format to his original, but this time titled The Week with George Galloway, described by the station as a "No-holds barred review of the past seven days around the world". The show is broadcast during the 10pm-1am slot on Friday nights .

The Real Deal

On 21 May 2007, Galloway began presenting a programme titled The Real Deal on Raj TV, a satellite channel, broadcasting on Sky 171, primarily aimed at the British Asian community. Following a break, the show was resurrected on 10 February 2008 on Press TV, a Tehran-based news channel controlled by the government of Iran.

Comment

Galloway also hosts a 45-minute weekly current affairs show that invites the viewers to engage in lively debate on international political issues. The show is also filmed and broadcast from the London-bureau of Iranian state-controlled news channel Press TV. In 2009, the british telecommunications regulator Ofcom criticised Galloway "for breaking impartiality rules" regarding his coverage of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict and accused him of promoting "Iranian propaganda".

Mazher Mahmood

In March 2006 Galloway claimed in a statement that Mazher Mahmood, an undercover reporter for the News of the World who uses a disguise as a sheikh to frame celebrities, targeted him in an alleged sting operation. Galloway claims that Mahmood and an accomplice tried but failed to implicate him in illegal party funding, and to agree with anti-Semitic statements. Galloway wrote to the Metropolitan police commissioner and the Speaker of the House of Commons about the incident. He also released photographs of Mahmood and revealed other aspects of his activities. The News of the World lost a High Court action to prevent publication of photographs of Mahmood.

Asian Voice

Galloway has been involved in several publishing companies. He owned Asian Voice, which published a newspaper called East from 1996. It later transpired that the Pakistan Government was funding Galloway's company Asian Voice with several hundred-thousand-pounds. "Documents show that the Pakistan government agreed an initial budget for the weekly newspaper of £547,000. According to a memorandum dated 2 January 1996, the Pakistan government proposed to "covertly sponsor" the publication, with money allocated to "the Secret Fund of the High Commissioner for Pakistan in the UK as a special grant for the project". The Commons Committee cleared Galloway of any wrongdoing in this matter.

Daily Record column

As of 25 June 2007, Galloway has contributed a weekly column in the Daily Record giving his views on politics and popular culture. He used this column to reveal he is considering running for a seat in the Scottish Parliament in the May 2011 election.

The Guardian

Galloway is also a regular contributor to The Guardian, writing for both the newspaper and Comment Is Free, its sister political opinion forum at guardian.co.uk.

TV and film appearances

INN World Report (US) (2009) (TV)

Question Time (numerous appearances) - Panellist answering questions

As a policeman, in Ugly Rumours "War", 25 February 2007

Our Story Our Voice (2007)

The Friday Night Project (2007)

Offside (BBC Scotland football talk show) (2006-12-04)

30 Greatest Political Comedies (2006) (TV)

The Wright Stuff - Panellist

The Late Late Show (1 programmes, 2006)

Richard & Judy (2 programmes, 2006)

Tubridy Tonight (2006)

Celebrity Big Brother (23 episodes, 2006)

Have I Got News For You - Panellist (2003)

As an orator

According to the Boston Globe, Galloway is "known, even in the highly articulate world of British politics, for his memorable turns of phrase", whereas The Times finds that he has "the gift of the Glasgow gab, a love of the stage and an inexhaustible fund of self-belief." The Guardian finds him "renowned for his colourful rhetoric and combative debating style" and the Spectator once awarded him Debater of the Year.).

See also

Oil-for-Food Program Hearings

References

External links

Video

George Galloway interviews David Strahan author of “The Last Oil Shock – A Survival Gide to the Imminent Extinction of Petroleum Man”

Galloway speaks at Manchester Town Hall, UK, 29 February 2004 about launch of Respect. Video, Chris Edwards

Galloway speaks in Manchester, UK, 22 November 2003 on future of anti-war movement. Video, Chris Edwards

Galloway speaks in Manchester, UK, 8 November 2003 about next steps for the anti-war movement. Video, Chris Edwards

George Galloway speaks in Manchester, UK, 9 May 2003 about media witch hunt. Video, Chris Edwards

The Fruitceller - Huge Video archive for the Anti-War Movement

Galloway talking about war with Iran

Galloway speaks at Manchester University, UK, 26 November 2006 about British politics after Blair. Video, Chris Edwards

Galloway speaks in Manchester, UK, 21 February 2006 about local elections. Video, Chris Edwards

Galloways speaks in Manchester, UK, 6 October 2004 about European Social Forum. Video, Chris Edwards

INN World Report Interviews Galloway US, 16 February 2009

Documentary featuring George Galloway about the 2010 election in Poplar and Limehouse by Catch21

General

GeorgeGalloway.com Official website.

RESPECT RENEWAL Official party website

RESPECT - The Unity Coalition The previous Official party website.

Official George Galloway MySpace page

CouchTripper Unofficial forum, high quality downloads & large archive of Galloway on radio and TV, where other sites come to stock up.

George Galloway's talkSPORT page

Galloway downloads on SpideredNews.com. George Galloway media downloads (including talkSPORT shows).

Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: George Galloway MP

TheyWorkForYou.com - George Galloway MP

The Public Whip - George Galloway MP voting record

George Galloway interviewed by eyebrow magazine September 2007

mp3s of Galloway speaking at London International Peace Conference, 10 December 2005

Galloway's participation at the International Peace Conference December 2005

IMDB Profile

Christopher Hitchens' attack leaflet of selected Galloway statements, including quotes admiring unelected dictators.

George Galloway Is Gruesome, Not Gorgeous by Christopher Hitchens, Slate.com, 13 September 2005.

: (Prequel to Galloway vs Hitchens debate held at CUNY)

Articles and news reports

George Galloway's interview with The Third Estate

Galloway, George Respect at the Crossroads

Channel 4 News - ''Galloway:"I'm no punchbag" - July 2007

FactCheck - ''"That's a fact." With all due respect, George... - April 2005

Al-Jiran. Iraqi author Fadhil Rashad: George Galloway, You Will Be Tried Just Like Your Friend and Benefactor Saddam Hussein. 30 November 2005.

The Independent George Galloway vs. Christopher Hitchens, 16 September 2005.

Zirin, Dave. Mr. Galloway Goes to Washington. Znet 13 September 2005

Sunday Herald George Galloway - personal interview 7 August 2005.

BBC. George Galloway interview on "What's the problem?". 10 June 2005.

McKay, Ron. Galloway Beats New Labour and the Ghost Voters. Sunday Herald. 8 May 2005.

Greenslade, Roy. No need for balance. The Guardian. 13 May 2005.

BBC. Galloway Wins Saddam Libel Case. 2 December 2004.

Abu Dhabi TV. ">British MP Galloway: US and British Governments Will Burn in "Hell-Fires". 20 November 2004.

The Scotsman. Galloway Iraq appeal cleared of impropriety over funds. 29 June 2004.

The Guardian. Special Report: George Galloway Expulsion from the Labour Party. 25 April 2004.

Al Jazeera. So what do I believe in? transcript of speech. 30 October 2003.

Watson, Richard. Why the MP went begging to Pakistan. The Daily Telegraph, 26 April 2003.

The Scotsman. Indefatigably yours. Personal interview, 19 May 2003.

New Worker. End the blockade on Iraq 1998 interview

Alliance for Workers Liberty. ">Would You Vote For This Man?: "Respect" and George Galloway. Solidarity 3/70. 31 March 2005.

Tatchell, Peter. Galloway's Iranian propaganda? The Guardian, 26 March 2008.

US Congressional testimony & related

mp3s of Galloway's speeches made during his tour of US, 13-24 December 2005

Unspinning the US’s web of lies against Galloway, Socialist Worker, 5 November 2005

mp3 of George Galloway vs. Christopher Hitchens, 14 September 2005

Galloway lied over Iraqi oil payments, says Congress report, Rupert Cornwell, The Independent, 25 October 2005

Christopher Hitchens' documentation of the Oil for Food issue, September 2005

Unmitigated Galloway, Christopher Hitchens, Weekly Standard, 30 May 2005

"Galloway and the mother of all invective", The Guardian newspaper, 18 May 2005

Link to full video recording of hearing in this BBC News report:Galloway takes on US oil accusers, BBC, 17 May 2005

UK's Galloway blisters US policy on Iraq on MSNBC Crooks & Liars: audio and video

Two Fox News reports: one short and sceptical; the other is a longer recording of Galloway's testimony, Fox News, 18 May 2005

Transcript of Galloway's comments, CNN

Full Text of Galloway's statements, Times online

Galloway's statements including senators questions

US Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, 12 May 2005, "Report on oil allocations granted to Charles Pasqua & George Galloway"

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